Reasons or Excuses?

The reasons for the Fed not raising rates keep getting more bizarre and outside the scope of what used to constitute the Fed`s purview. First it was the financial crisis, then it was GDP growth not being up to par, then it was inflation not being robust enough, then it was employment being too soft, next it became China is slowing, then it became Europe is slowing, then it was Wall Street will sell off and there will be too much volatility, then it became lack of wage growth, next it was the Dollar was too strong, and now it is that Energy is too cheap. I am sure I missed at least 5 other reasons that have come and gone for the Fed not raising rates over the last 7 plus years of this ZIRP Fed Wall Street Welfare program.

7 Years is almost a Decade – The US Should Learn from the Japan Model

Remember we are not discussing whether or not the Fed Funds Rate should be 5% or 6 %, we are talking about basically 0% Wall Street Financing Handouts for 7 plus years. If Wall Street cannot get their act together in 7 plus years of essentially 0% financing, then they will never be able to get their house and structural holdings in order and stand on their own two feet.

Risk-Taking & Leverage are at Financial Crisis Proportions – Bubbles Galore

The risks to the financial system are off the charts, there are asset bubbles all over the place, directly correlated to 7 plus years of ZIRP, and the bubbles and complacency are getting worse by the month. The overzealous chasing of yield at any cost incentivized by ZIRP in the bond markets is the most dangerous bubble the Fed needs to get real concerned about, price and yield return relative to risk of any of these bonds being remotely in the same ‘Value Stratosphere” over 10 and 30 year duration periods, and the fact that all the major banks (which are the purview of the Federal Reserve) have balance sheets filled to the gills with these mispriced assets due primarily to ZIRP Handouts by the Federal Reserve should be their only concern right now!