The stock market did not rise because of the rate hike. The stock market rose because the Atlanta Federal Reserve bank dropped its forecast for second quarter (ends June 30) GDP growth to zero — 0.0 — which means that technically we are in a recession.

As interest rate hikes worsen recessions, the stock market has concluded that Fed tightening is over. Soon the Fed will be lowering interest rates to fight recession and unemployment. The real question is: why did the Federal Reserve raise interest rates on the same day it knew the economy had descended into recession?

The Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell disclaimed any intention of causing or worsening a recession by ratcheting up interest rates. But the real unanswered question is why did the Fed raise interest rates after the Fed knew we were in a recession unless the Fed wants a serious recession?

The unexplored question among economists is who does the Federal Reserve really serve. In the universities students are brainwashed that the Federal Reserve serves the public's interest by maintaining noninflationary full employment via careful adjustments of the money supply. There is no historical record to support this claim, but this is what is taught. It is part of the propaganda that turns Americans into dumbshits.

Since QE began, the Federal Reserve's balance sheet has risen from 800 billion dollars to 9 trillion dollars. This was the money creation that drove up bond, stock, and real estate prices and created a Forbes 400 list of nothing but multi-billionaires. If memory serves, when I was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, there were only 2 billionaires on the 400 list.