Have you ever seen the British Question Hour? They put Tony Blair in front of the house of commons and they ask him questions on TV. He usually has a binder full of notes with him and he has to respond right there, right then. No where to hide, no where to run. They are on a regularly scheduled basis so there’s no avoiding them. The house of commons often boo’s, sometimes applauds, both the questions and the answers. Quite entertaining even if the politics isn’t directly applicable to anyone in the US for the most part. That might provide some improvement in the current situation. Entertainment at least.
Fed rate increase
It’s possible that the economy isn’t doing well enough to absorb a 2.5% increase. The fed moves in .25% increases so that will take over a year put into place at this rate. So they have ample opportunity to see how things are going before continuing. In fact, it’s safe to say that this is exactly what they will be discussing this Tuesday. Although they will probably go ahead with this increase to 1.75%, that’s still really low and shouldn’t have any detrimental effect on the economy.
As for politics and the fed, I would say that there is almost no politics in the current fed actions. It’s only my opinion but from what I have seen and read, the Fed may seem to lean to the right but have plenty of problems with the fiscal policies of the current administration. They would prefer Pay-go rules, less of a deficit and more reasonable approaches to social security and medicare. It’s not easy to fit their actions into an agenda other than their own, which is apparent to anyone that follows their speeches and meetings
Know your personal traits as to risk taking
It’s very important to know your personal traits as to risk taking. If you aren’t comfortable, don’t do it. Of course, that means you have to be comfortable with the less than stellar results from a conservative position. Most want what they can’t have, high return with low risk. I see it everyday.
Dr. Douglas Rice 