The Federal Reserve Bank may increase the basic interest rate this week - or not. Bond markets are a twitter.
So here's the questions:
1. Increased interest rates appear to put the majority of the burden of economic management on consumers - kind of like a hidden tax. What could the Fed do to shift some of that burden to foreign consumer goods producers, corporations or government?
2. When the Fed increases the rate does it make the dollar more attractive to foreign investors and their government banks? Right now it appears that other government "Feds" are beginning to raise their rates. Does that pressure our Feds to do more of the same to help finance the massive, growing trade deficit?
3. Do these rate hikes affect home mortgage rates, especially Adjustable Rate Mortgages? I hear a million or more home owners may be experiencing sharp increases in their house payments and foreclosures are up more than 50% with higher numbers soon expected.
4. Is there is simple way to explain the Foreign Exchange (ForEx) "strong dollar", "weak dollar" and its relationship to both foreign exchange rates, government manipulation of a capitalist's "free market", the price of foreign goods and inflation in this country?
5. I hear that the government is no longer publicly reporting the flow of foreign dollars called M3. As a trained and experienced skeptic of banking and government I naturally assume they are hiding another "something" from public view. What is it and why is that significant?
This is a start. There's more. I sincerely hope the DU people can shed some light.
Thank you