Watch the Federal Reserve's interest rate decisions explained through a Rube Goldberg machine

The U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to raise its benchmark rate on Dec. 16, for the first time in a decade, was unanimous, but how quickly it will raise rates again is an open question — and one that will be vigorously debated as new, more hawkish voting members of the Fed's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee take their seats in 2016, The Wall Street Journal predicts. Disagreement makes sense, because trying to steer a massive market economy like America's through interest-rate adjustments and monetary supply is an arduous balancing act.

If the Federal Reserve's rate deliberations seem sort of abstruse, or make your eyes glaze over, The New York Times created a Rube Goldberg machine to explain how the Fed uses a rate hike to try to tame inflation. A complicated chain of events is actually a pretty good way to explain the intended consequences of a Federal Reserve action — you can see why stock markets fall, for example — and if nothing else, it's always fun to watch a Rube Goldberg machine in motion. Hopefully, the inventive team at The Upshot will modify the machine to show how the Fed tries to affect the other part of its mandate: Boosting employment. Watch below. Peter Weber

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up