A December rate rise may be a mistake by the Fed

Why do businesses and households need the Federal Reserve to intervene with higher borrowing costs if they are already restraining themselves?

There was never going to be a right time for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, yet now, as the US central bank prepares for a December "lift-off", it seems the first move in seven years will be both too early and too late.

Too early, because many of the underlying weaknesses of the US economic system are still evident: the low rate of Americans' participation in the workforce; a lack of above-trend wage growth to drive up shop prices. Then there is the insipid global growth forecasts brought on by a decline in global trade.