Why The Fed Raised Interest Rates

``All year we have said all year, the Federal Reserve would raise rates by the end of the year, to stay ahead of the other central banks and to boost demand for U.S. Treasury bonds, which according to yesterday's Treasury report is clearly in decline. The Fed's policy is focused primarily on protecting the United States' most valuable asset -- the dollar and its ability to get the world to buy treasuries so it can continue fund the massive welfare/warfare state.'' -- There's a lot of truth to this; at the end of the day, the Fed has to make sure the dollar appears to be the least ugly currency at the ball, or it's game over for the bankrupt Fed and U.S. However, eventually the market will realize that the dollar is indeed only the "least bad option" of the currencies, and will still lose immense value over the years (and not too many of them) compared with true stores of value...