By Gary Gordon : For several years, ultra-low interest rates "justified" paying higher stock prices for anemic earnings growth. For one thing, market participants are currently speculating that inflation-creating trade restrictions, ongoing annual deficits and the probability of substantial increases in the national debt warrant higher interest rates. The greater the Federal Reserve agrees with the market on inflation prospects, the more the Fed touts the attainment of full employment, the higher the U.S. dollar may go.