Interest rate and the economy

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The economy is a living, breathing, deeply interconnected system. When the Central back changes the interest rates at which banks borrow money, those changes get passed on to the rest of the economy.

For example, if the central bank lowers the federal funds rate, then banks can borrow money for less. In turn, they can lower the interest rates they charge to individual borrowers, making their loans more attractive and competitive. If an individual was thinking about buying a home or a car, and the interest rates suddenly go down, he or she might decide to take out a loan and spend, spend, spend! The more consumers spend, the more the economy grows.

That's why the stock market tends to go up when the Central bank lowers interest rates, or even hints at thoughts of lowering interest rates. It's a sign to investors that people will be buying more goods and services and that companies will ramp up production and create more jobs.

Lower rates are doubly good for the stock market, because it makes other investments less attractive . 

For example, the interest rate paid on U.S. Treasury bonds is closely tied to the federal funds rate. If the funds rate goes down, then bonds and other fixed-rate securities won't pay as much as other, slightly riskier investments like the stock market. The influx of investor money into the stock market will in turn raise stock prices, another indicator of a healthy economy.

A lower federal funds rate also decreases the value of the dollar on the foreign exchange market. While a long-term drop in the value of the dollar is bad news for the U.S. economy as a whole, it can be good short-term news for domestic manufacturers. When the dollar goes down, it becomes more expensive to buy goods and services from foreign companies. This encourages companies to buy domestic products, injecting more cash into the economy.

Because the Central banks monetary policy decisions have such a powerful influence on the strength and direction of the economy, banks, lenders, borrowers and investors spend a lot of energy analyzing the central banks every move and word.

For example, long-term interest rates, like those on 30-year home mortgages, have a lot to do with what banks think the central bank will do in the future. If the central bank hints that it will raise interest rates to combat inflation, the banks might be worried that the central bank knows something they don't, namely that inflation is on the rise. As we discussed earlier, inflation affects the real interest that a lender earns on a loan. To adjust for the possibility of rising inflation, banks might raise their long-term interest rates.

Now let's talk about how the central banks interest rate changes can affect inflation in the next topic