After seven years of zero interest rates the Federal Reserve (Fed) said it would raise its benchmark interest rate from zero. Fed chief Janet Yellen also emphasized the Fed will likely lift it gradually thereafter. If the moves were not gradual, they could be destabilizing the financial markets, professor Volker Wieland warned in the ZDF's "Heute Journal".
This would jeopardize the business model of banks. However, the turnaround in interest rates had been overdue, he wrote in an op-ed on n-tv. Fed chief Janet Yellen had already missed the optimum time.
"Heute Journal" on 16/12/15 (starting at 2:18 min)
n-tv: Bescherung an den Finanzmärkten
Börsen-Zeitung: Interview on 18/12/15
IMFS: 25 Basis Points for the Banks?
