<prompt> Human: Forgive me if this isnt the right place to ask - but Reddit Economics doesnt allow text posts from new users. Can somebody help me with this? The downside to keeping rates low is inflation - but inflation is not happening its low so why raise rates when lower rates stimulate the economy? Why not raise rates once inflation picks up? Why would the Federal Reserve willingly choose to make the United States pay higher interest on the federal debt?  <response>: Inflation isnt low anymore, its 2.5 annual for the 12 month period ending January 2017. Labor Department will be publishing numbers ending February in two days. The Feds two major concerns with hiking the funds rate are unemployment and inflation. Unemployments way down to decent levels, and inflation is firing up. Its the perfect time to raise rates. If you wait too long with inflation its like trying to put out a forest fire with a garden hose. 