Sunday, October 30, 2005

Interest rates - Is the sky the limit?

According to this article from CNN there is a possibility that the Federal Reserve is considering raising interest rates again. Apparently a good way to determine how interst rates will change in the near futre is by looking at the difference between interest rates and the rate of inflation. By doing this you can find out how effective the interest rate is at encourageing growth, but containing inflation.
If current thinking is correct then this means that the Fed will likely raise rates three more times by the end of Alan Greenspan’s tenure in January 2006. What does this mean for interest rates, will they keep going up, and when a the new chairman takes over in January will the rise be slowed, or will, as some believe continue to go up? If inflation continues to rise, since is is at it’s highest levels in 11 years, does this mean that interest rates will also go up, or will they be curtailed, and most of all what would this continued rise do to the national economy, which has been steadly growing in recent months?
Jennifer O'Dell

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