¼ Dollar – United States

In 2015, the United States found itself in a period of monetary policy normalization following the unprecedented stimulus of the Great Recession. The Federal Reserve, under Chair Janet Yellen, was cautiously navigating the path toward raising interest rates for the first time since 2006. After years of near-zero rates and multiple rounds of quantitative easing, the U.S. economy showed sustained, if modest, growth and a steadily falling unemployment rate. This led to intense market speculation and global scrutiny over the timing of the Fed's first rate hike, a move with significant implications for the U.S. Dollar, global capital flows, and emerging markets.

The year was characterized by a remarkably strong U.S. Dollar, which appreciated significantly against a basket of major currencies. This "King Dollar" phenomenon was driven by the divergent policy paths between the Fed and other major central banks, like the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, which were still actively expanding monetary stimulus. The strong dollar had mixed effects: it boosted the purchasing power of American consumers and travelers abroad but created headwinds for large U.S. multinational corporations by making their exports more expensive and reducing the value of their overseas earnings.

Ultimately, after months of telegraphing its intentions and monitoring economic data, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by a quarter of a percentage point in December 2015. This historic move marked the end of the zero-interest-rate era and signaled confidence in the U.S. economic recovery. However, the accompanying statement emphasized a gradual and data-dependent path for future hikes, aiming to ensure the recovery was not disrupted while slowly withdrawing the extraordinary support that had been in place for seven years.