{"id":49177,"date":"2018-06-09T04:15:12","date_gmt":"2018-06-09T11:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=49177"},"modified":"2023-06-02T17:32:40","modified_gmt":"2023-06-03T00:32:40","slug":"black-coffee-9-june-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id49177-black-coffee-9-june-2018.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Pecuniary Prestidigitation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"black<\/a>It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

Let’s get right to it this week …<\/p>\n

“It is what it is, but it’s not what it seems.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Paul Hewson<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Whatever is a reality today, whatever you touch and believe in and that seems real for you today, is going to be — like the reality of yesterday — an illusion tomorrow.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Luigi Pirandello<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Next week the Federal Reserve is expected to raise its target interest rate<\/a> higher than the rate of inflation for the first time in ten years. Or so they say, assuming you believe the government’s official inflation figures. Never mind that the government’s consumer price index from which that inflation data is derived excludes food and fuel prices. Makes sense.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, higher Fed rates typically come with tightening liquidity — that is, fewer dollars available to cover the ever-growing debt obligations within the dollar-based international monetary system — and that’s causing turmoil<\/a> with emerging markets around the world. One impact of the resulting stronger US dollar is that other nations’ dollar-based debt ends up costing more to carry. King Dollar, indeed.<\/p>\n