The Ide(a)s of March

In Roman times, the Ides were the day of the month that debts needed to be paid. Hmn. How can we get Congress to revive these ancient traditions and apply them to our own government? No matter. It’s already ominous enough that this year’s Ides of March precede the next Federal Reserve meeting. The Fed’s biggest client — the U.S. government — has borrowed so much money that it’ll be a cold day in Hades before they do anything but roll that debt over. Here’s a more immediate question: Will Chairman Jerome Powell and his compatriots at the Fed dare to raise interest rates as expected? Increase the costs of borrowing money and shout “last call’ on Wall Street’s champagne and caviar fest? What about the paycheck-to-paycheck middle class who are dependent on the equity in the over-leveraged house to plan for retirement? Will they have to the cajones to smack them down too? The over/under is they’ll back down on hikes… and blame Russia. Heh.