“It finally happened — the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the first time since June 2006. And while while many of Atlanta's top financial experts were split about the Fed's September decision to not raise interest rates, so far it seems most give the Fed's Dec. 16 decision to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 0.25 to 0.5 percent a "thumbs up.”… THUMBS DOWN Professor David N. Laband, chair of Georgia Tech's School of Economics: "I give a thumbs down on the FED's decision to raise the interest rate for the same reasons I gave a thumbs up on the decision last month not to raise the interest rate. There is little evidence that our extended period of 'easy money' has resulted in a worrisome inflationary regime. At the same time, there continues to be ample evidence that the post-2008 economic recovery has been, and remains, less-than-robust. Raising rates at this time can only compromise the pace and/or extent of our economic recovery, such as it is. Relatedly, it will further strengthen the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies, which will hurt U.S. exporters.”

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