but the vigorous rate that it has been cruising along is falling.The US international trade deficit is growing every year revealing the US’s dependencies on imports vs. exports. The need for vast imports is not unusual, but the level of exports continues to fall. The Balance of US International Trade in Goods and Services for Jan.-Dec. of 1997 was -104.7 billion dollars and -164.2 billion this year. The deficit is detrimental to the economy as it continually creates a debt as it imports more than it exports. Becoming more dependent on imports will drag the economy as it spends large sums of money without exporting to counterbalance. Due to the economy slowing down from the initial rise in interest rates, would argue against the Fed raising it once again. On the other hand, higher emplyment-costs will cause a rise in wages and the sort of inflationary pressures that the Fed is trying to prevent. Although July could be a deciding factor, I do believe that the Fed will raise interest rates to prevent any chances of rising inflation. ...
