Fed Chairman to raise interest rates: Can the USA afford that for long?

Source: MichaelPRamirez.com http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-17/its-still-debt-stupid

Reuters reported the following:

July 12, 2017

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is healthy enough to absorb further gradual rate increases and the slow wind down of the massive bond portfolio accumulated by the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in prepared testimony to be delivered to Congress Wednesday morning.

In what may be one of her last appearances on Capitol Hill, Yellen depicted an economy that, while growing slowly, continued to add jobs, benefited from steady household consumption and a recent jump in business investment, and was now being supported as well by stronger economic conditions abroad. …

Yellen’s appearance comes as the Trump administration mulls whether to replace her when her term ends in February. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-snap-stocks-idUSKBN19W1KE?il=0

Here are some comments from Monday by former US Congressman Ron Paul:

Janet Yellen: False Prophet of Prosperity

July 10, 2017

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen recently predicted that, thanks to the regulations implemented after the 2008 market meltdown, America would not experience another economic crisis “in our lifetimes.” Yellen’s statement should send shivers down our spines, as there are few more reliable signals of an impending recession, or worse, than when so-called “experts” proclaim that we are in an era of unending prosperity. …

Yellen’s happy talk ignores a number of signs that the economy is on the verge of another crisis. In recent months, the US has experienced a decline in economic growth and the value of the dollar. The only economic statistic showing a positive trend is the unemployment rate — and that is only because the official unemployment rate does not count those who have given up looking for work. The real unemployment rate is at least 50 percent higher than the manipulated “official” rate. …

The US economy is already faced with several bubbles that could implode at any time. These include bubbles in student loans and automobiles sales, and even another housing bubble. The most dangerous of these bubbles is the government bubble caused by excessive spending. According to a 2016 study by the Mercatus Center, at least four states could soon join Puerto Rico and Illinois in facing bankruptcy.

Of course, the mother of all government bubbles is the federal spending bubble. Despite claims of both defenders and critics of the president’s budget, neither President Trump nor the Republican Congress have any plans for, or interest in, reducing spending in any area. Even the so-called cuts in Medicare and other entitlement programs that have generated such hysterics are not real cuts, but “reductions in the rate of growth.” …

If Congress continues to increase spending and the Federal Reserve continues to facilitate that spending by monetizing the debt, Americans will face an economic crisis more severe than the Great Depression. The crisis will likely result from a rejection of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2017/july/10/janet-yellen-false-prophet-of-prosperity/

The USA will one day face an economic crisis worse than the Great Depression and its dollar will be rejected as the world’s reserve currency. That crisis will be even more devastating than what Ron Paul alludes to.

As far as Donald Trump and the USA being a debtor goes, notice some items items about that in my book Donald Trump and America’s Apocalypse:

As president, Donald Trump will have to deal with the fact that the U.S.A. is the most indebted nation in the history of humanity and that in 2017 Republicans proposed a plan that could increase that debt by $9-10 trillion through 2026. (Nicholson J. Senate GOP’s FY 2017 Budget Deficit, Debt Red Ink Exceed Obama’s Budget. Bloomberg BNA, January 5, 2017)

Debt is a prophesied problem (cf. Habakkuk 2:6-8).

The time will come when the U.S.A. government will no longer be able to borrow at low interest rates and/or it will create more money electronically and/or via the printing press to try to continue.

Make no mistake about it — massive inflation is coming.

The U.S.A. dollar will ultimately crash and be worthless. That “pride” of American power will be broken (cf. Leviticus 26:19). …

Donald Trump loves debt. Here is something he said about it in 2016:

I’m the king of debt. I love debt. (Egan M. Donald Trump: ‘I’m the king of debt.’ CNN, May 7, 2016)

There was about $20 trillion of recognized US government debt before Donald Trump took office.

He plans to increase that total. Some think his stated policies will add around $10 trillion to that total. (Matthews C. Donald Trump Calls for Exploding the National Debt. Fortune, August 11, 2016)

This is dangerous. Consider also that Donald Trump said because interest rates are “so low”:

[T]his is the time to borrow, and to borrow long term, so that we can have money to rebuild our infrastructure. (Matthews C. Donald Trump Calls for Exploding the National Debt. Fortune, August 11, 2016)

Donald Trump also said:

I have borrowed, knowing that you can pay back with discounts. And I have done very well with debt. Now, of course, I was swashbuckling, and it did well for me and it was good for me and all that. …

Now we’re in a different situation with a country, but I would borrow knowing that if the economy crashed you could make a deal. And if the economy was good it was good so therefore you can’t lose. …

I don’t want to renegotiate the bonds, but I think you can do discounting. … I’m not even suggesting that we don’t borrow money at very low rates long term so we don’t have to worry about when they come due. (Kurtzleben D. Donald Trump’s Messy Ideas For Handling The National Debt, Explained. NPR, May 9, 2016)

Nobody knows debt better than me. I’ve made a fortune by using debt and if things don’t work out, I renegotiate the debt. Well, you go back and you say, ‘hey, guess what? The economy just crashed. I’m going to give you back half. ( “Trump recession”? Presumptive GOP nominee fires back at Clinton. CBS, June 22, 2016)

It sounds like Donald Trump believes that debt is good and there is nothing wrong with defaulting or otherwise not intending to pay the total debt back.

The Bible says the wicked have that attitude:

²¹ The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives. (Psalms 37:21)

Donald Trump has also filed for bankruptcy four times (Egan M. Donald Trump: ‘I’m the king of debt.’ CNN, May 7, 2016)—presumably to not pay back debt, while he claims a financial worth around $10 billion.

He may consider that to be ‘good business,’ but his practices and intents sound biblically immoral.

Donald Trump has voiced concerns about interest rates rising in the USA:

If interest rates go up one percent, that’s devastating. What happens if that interest rate goes up 2, 3, 4 points? We don’t have a country. (Egan M. Donald Trump: ‘I’m the king of debt.’ CNN, May 7, 2016)

The rates Donald Trump is concerned about are not outrageously high. On December 14, 2016, the US Federal Reserve announced that it intended a series of four, at minimum of .25% interest rate hikes, which would at least equal one percent (Tankersley J. Federal Reserve raises interest rates for second time in a decade, expects 3 hikes in 2017. Washington Post, December 14, 2016)—the level that Donald Trump has declared would be “devastating” for the USA. (Thiel B. Donald Trump and America’s Apocalypse. Nazarene Books, 2017)

Today, Janet Yellen confirmed the intent of the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates.

Furthermore, the USA is planning on massively increasing its debt according to the latest projections from the US Congressional Budget Office (see CBO points to massive debt: Can the depth of a coming financial crisis be known?).

Perhaps it should be added that according to former Senator Tom Coburn, the average millennial is going to have to pay AN ADDITIONAL $1,700,000 EACH TO PAY their share of the debt (see Former Senator Coburn’s take on US debt). And that presumes that interest rates will not rise. That is unrealistic.

Various ideas, agreements (remember the so-called sequestration?) have not worked.

Consider also the following:

12 July 2017

Ms Yellen said she shares concerns about national debt – but that fixing the problem lies with Congress.

“I agree that what you’re showing here represents a trend that, given current spending and taxation decisions, is going to lead to an unsustainable debt situation with rising interest rates and declining investment in the United States that will further harm productivity growth and living standards,” she said. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40589139

“at some point a government spends big and yields start to rise faster. This could still be many quarters ahead but if and when it does happen central banks might have to intervene and cap nominal yields to avoid carnage in a heavily indebted world. 07/11/17 http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-11/deutsche-once-carnage-higher-rates-hits-then-we-move-helicopter-money

Regardless of one’s views about the direction Congress should take today, everyone should agree that the nation’s present fiscal course is unsustainable. 07/10/17 http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/debt-ceiling-debate-gives-congress-opportunity-to-chart-new-fiscal-course/article/2628212

Something that is unsustainable cannot continue.

The US debt and spending policies will not go on forever.

Ron Paul is correct that Janet Yellen made a false prophecy of prosperity earlier (more on her earlier prediction is in the news post Janet Yellen does not believe that there will be another financial crisis ‘in our lifetimes’).

Sadly, the Federal Reserve, many politicians, and many in the mainstream press seem to love debt. The Bible teaches that debt is one of the curses that happen to the disobedient (Deuteronomy 28:15,44).

Notice the following scriptures:

43 The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. 45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed…47 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. 49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. 51 And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you. 52 They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you (Deuteronomy 28:42-45,47-52).

7 The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender. (Proverbs 22:7)

3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry…5 Indeed, because he transgresses by wine, He is a proud man… 6 “Will not all these take up a proverb against him, And a taunting riddle against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases What is not his–how long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges’? 7 Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty. 8 Because you have plundered many nations, All the remnant of the people shall plunder you. Because of men’s blood And the violence of the land and the city, And of all who dwell in it. (Habakkuk 2:3,5,6-8).

9 “Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house, That he may set his nest on high, That he may be delivered from the power of disaster! 10 You give shameful counsel to your house, Cutting off many peoples, And sin against your soul. 11 For the stone will cry out from the wall, And the beam from the timbers will answer it. (Habakkuk 2:9-11)

It is the United States and its Anglo-allies that have loaded pledges of debt in these end times (cf. Habakkuk 2) that they really do not expect to pay back. In that respect, they have recently plundered many nations. And while much is owed to nations such as China, Japan, and the Arab World, the Europeans have trillions of dollars invested in the USA–money they may be disappointed to have devalued, and actually the Europeans seem to hold the most US debt (see EU reportedly the largest holder of USA debt). Enough so that they may divide the land among themselves and other creditors (cf. Daniel 11:39; see also USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses).

The USA does not intend to pay back its debt. Nor, should I add, does the UK, which has one of the largest per capita debts in the world.

Rising interest rates will put more pressure on the USA (and other indebted nations) and will, of themselves, increase government spending, and thus tend towards more debt. The USA (and others) need to change and repent.

While your nation probably will not repent (Anglo or otherwise), you can. Do not wait until it is too late.

Several items of possibly related interest may include:

Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. A video of possible interest may be Will Will USA Spying Help the Beast Power?
Will the Anglo-Saxon Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2017, 2018, or 2019? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2016 o 2017? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language sermon videos: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives and Can the Great Tribulation begin before 2020? A shorter video is: Will the Great Tribulation Start in 2017?
Are You Being Called by God? Norman Shoaf wrote various points to consider.
Is God Calling You? Alfred E Carrozzo wrote this.
What Did Christ Mean – Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen? This article was by Raymond McNair.
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? A related sermon is also available titled: Real Christian Repentance.
USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses Can you point to scriptures, like Daniel 11:39, that point to the USA in the 21st century? This article does. A related sermon is titled: Do these 7 prophesies point to the end of the USA?
Donald Trump in Prophecy Prophecy, Donald Trump? Are there prophecies that Donald Trump may fulfill? Are there any prophecies that he has already helped fulfill? Could a Donald Trump presidency be apocalyptic? A related video is titled: Donald: ‘Trump of God’ or Apocalyptic?
Donald Trump and America’s Apocalypse This 188 page book is for people truly interested in prophecies related to Donald Trump and the United States, including learning about several that have already been fulfilled and those that will be fulfilled in the future. The physical book can be purchased at Amazon for $12.99 from the following link: Donald Trump and America’s Apocalypse.
Donald Trump and America’s Apocalypse-Kindle Edition This electronic version of the 188 page print edition is available for only US$3.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to Donald Trump and America’s Apocalypse-Kindle Edition.