You might be able to easily understand any reluctance that the FOMC has had in the past year or maybe even in the year ahead to raise interest rates.
To understand why those decision makers could be scarred, all you have to do is glance back to nearly a year ago.
At that time, after a 9 year period of not having had a single increase in interest rates, the FOMC did increase interest rates.
The data compelled them to do so, as the FOMC has professed to be data driven.
Presumably, they did more than just look in the rear view mirror, casting forward projections and interpreting what are sometimes conflicting pieces of the puzzle.
At the time, the conventional wisdom, no doubt guided somewhat by the FOMC’s own suggestions, was that the small increase was going to be the first and that we were likely to see a series of such increases in 2016.
Funny thing about that, though.
Data is not the same as a crystal ball. Data is backward looking and trends can stop on a dime, or if I were to factor in the future value of money based upon the increase in the 10 Year Treasury note ever since Election Day, considerably more than a dime.
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