Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's Senate testimony Tuesday confirmed that the Fed will take a go-slow approach to raising interest rates, notes CNBC commentator Ron Insana.
And that is "right where the Federal Reserve should be," he writes on CNBC.com.
Insana pointed out that Yellen expressed continued concern about weakness in the job market, low inflation and slack economies overseas. The U.S. economy grew 2.4 percent last year.
"While the U.S. economy is steady to stronger, the world economy is quite fragile, and it will take several months to determine whether or not the world can withstand higher U.S. rates," Insana says.
"From my perspective, this means that a rate hike could come no sooner than September. The way in which Yellen has suggested it will take a couple meetings simply to begin considering raising rates, means that we're, at least, six months away from a move."
Bottom line: "I still think the Fed waits until 2016 to start raising rates, assuming the data support higher rates," Insana writes.
The Fed has kept its federal funds rate target at a record low of zero to 0.25 percent since December 2008. The fed funds futures market doesn't put the probability of a rate hike above 50 percent until October, according to CME Group, which runs the futures exchange.
Meanwhile, Steve Cortes, founder of Veracruz research firm, told Newsmax TV that the Fed's easing program has done no favors for the middle class,
"Federal Reserve policy has really punished middle class folks," he said. "They don't tend to own a whole lot of stocks, so they're not enjoying the S&P 500 at all-time highs. Or if they do, it's in their retirement account, it doesn't affect their day to day living right now."
So what is the impact of Fed easing on the middle class?
"It punishes savers, who are earning little to nothing on your savings accounts, particularly for older folks who are on fixed incomes," Cortes said. "This has really been a crushing policy to them."
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