The Markets, the fake ones
I'm not talking about the place where communities met to talk and exchange food. Full of vibrant, genuine and down-to-earth people.
No. The other Markets, the fake ones.
Ironically called the free market, but controlled, or at least heavily influenced, by a US organization: the Federal Reserve (or the FED)—which is, by the way, a private institution. The FED's actions impact the US dollar and what happens to the dollar, being the current global reserve currency, impacts the world's economy.
One cool thing of having the world reserve currency is that you can print money and spend it in whatever you want: military, welfare, buy other countries' commodities, etc. Then, the inflationary consequence of this monetary policy not only impacts your country, but it is exported to all the countries forced to hold your currency because otherwise they can't buy oil. How cool is that!
The financial markets, those abstract constructs where a few individuals make fortunes without providing any value to society, only speculation and insider trading. And during crises, when normal people lose their jobs, and sometimes their houses, well, these “market makers” can make even more money.
It is bizarre, so bizarre, that a small group as the FED have such an influence over the lives of billions of people. I can't stand their hypocrisy and arrogance when they assert: “we have it under control”—or a few months ago when they were saying, “it will be temporary”. No matter what they say, this is a structural issue they can't fix. When something breaks, they will have to turn on the money printing machine again and make it even worse.
Their impact in the markets in undeniable. It does not matter what the actual interest hike is, what the markets value is predictability. If the number was correctly priced in, the markets have a nice relief rally. One that won't last long.
The global economy is in a dire situation, and people start to feel it. Meanwhile, these guys are taking a two months summer holiday. How about that!