Comparison of the rate of increase in US interest rates Since the last interest rate hike on May 3, U.S. interest rates have reached levels not seen since 2007. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates aggressively in an attempt to fight severe inflation. In fact, rates have risen by nearly five percentage points in just 14 months. In this chart, we compare the speed and severity of the current rate hike with other periods of monetary tightening over the past 35 years. Measuring periods of rising interest rates We measured rate hike cycles using the effective federal funds...