many people think that raising or lowering rates by the fed. really matters much. it doesnt. its the trend that counts. and that is determined by the market. not the stock market. the interest rate market. companies make their loan decisions on expanding for the future by the trends and not by single responses. so if the trend is down it should overall lead us into a recovery. but it doesnt always happen for a very long time. look at japan. they lowered rates to almost nil and it hasnt done a thing.

what determines prosperity is production and efficiency. not much more. short term say 50 or 100 years you can maintain a high standard of living by depleteing natural recources but that doesnt last as we have seen in some places.