In her first post-rate-hike press conference, Janet Yellen is about to go to extreme lengths to explain just how dovishly bullish raising interest rates is, despite leaving the Fed Funds forecast unchanged since September (i.,e. not dovish). We look forward to her explaining why she is raising rates now - as opposed to September - as economic data has nosedived and the market has done a significant job on contracting credit already. We also look forward to her explaining how, if rate hikes on the path to normalization are so awesome, why is the willingness to do it so low?

Well, liftoff has officially begun. 

Assuming 25 bps doesn't tip EM into crisis and/or trigger some kind of dramatic, unforeseen meltdown elsewhere, the Fed is about to embark on the first rate hike cycle in over a decade. 

Of course the hike itself isn't what's interesting - virtually no one thought the Fed would fold again, even as China did its best to create a bit of pre-Yellen drama by stirring up the deval fears with a nod to a new trade-weighted index for the yuan.

Given the reality of the probable extinction of the human race, we are faced with two difficult questions: What kind of political action is possible and relevant at this point? How do we remain motivated to act with hope? This article suggests a way of understanding our situation that may enhance our capacity for energetic political action, despite the bleak circumstances within which we find ourselves.

On the 7th anniversary of entering ZIRP, and for the first time since June 29th 2006, The Federal Reserve announced today that it will try and raise interest rates:

*FED RAISES INTEREST RATES 0.25 POINT IN UNANIMOUS VOTE

Of course, the flowery language and dots are as dovish as possible while maintaining some semblance of credibility with regard growth expectations as The Fed unleashes a tightening cycle for the first time in over 11 years.

Paul, the senator from Kentucky whose candidacy has never quite gotten off the ground, used his time on the debate stage to focus on the fundamental threat posed by Trump's disregard for civil liberties. Paul said "the basic liberties that define America, the truth is still as Benjamin Franklin described it: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."