IMF warns Fed should delay rate hike until 2016
The U.S. Federal Reserve should delay a rate hike until the first half of 2016 until there are signs of a pickup in wages and inflation, the International Monetary Fund said in its annual assessment of the economy on Thursday.
The fund’s report comes amid signs that some rate setters at the U.S. central bank are also pushing for rate hikes to be delayed until there are clearer signs of a sustained recovery. U.S. data has been mixed and the economy shrank 0.7 percent in the first quarter.
“Based on the mission’s macroeconomic forecast, and barring upside surprises to growth and inflation, this would put lift-off into the first half of 2016,” the fund said.
I think that this will prove to be a seminal moment.
All of LEO groupthink is based on the idea that victims of what some call lawfare are incapable of fighting back in non-violent ways. However, in this case, the victims include dozens of middle class people who can afford an expensive hobby. At least a handful of those are likely to be able to wage counter-value lawfare themselves, or will be connected well enough to those capable of doing it on their behalf.
The fact that some of these guys are waging counter-value lawfare is an indication of their belief in fundamental fairness. Many others (aka “white hats”) are watching while holding similar beliefs. Only one of two outcomes can happen:
a. The system supports the counter-value lawfare and pushes back against the regime. To TPTB, this outcome is unacceptable, even unpossible.
b. The system slithers out from under the counter-value lawfare, thus teaching all paying attention that there is no fundamental justice or fairness at play, and breeding more”black hats” who go underground in the political sense. This is the more likely outcome, but will have dramatic, unintended downstream consequences as these newly minted black hats prepare and recruit accordingly.
Neither of those two options benefit TPTB. As with Bundy Ranch, their operators are hoist upon the horns of their own dilemma.
Lesson?
I will say it a thousand times: pimped rifles are nice, camo is nice, PT is nice, but just as fundamentally essential as all of those is operating your own business(es) and making your own way, and power, in the world, independent of any HR department or timeclock. Only then will you, the citizen soldier, have the resources and operational flexibility to wage your own countervalue lawfare should the need arise. The deterrent effect of such a capability is substantially greater than might be obvious at first.
Tom
Reply from Matt Bracken