For a business borrowing $500,000 on a five-year equipment loan, a 25-basis-point Fed rate increase that lifts the prime rate to 7% would raise annual payments from $120,942 to $121,658, a difference that the author argues is too small to alter an investment decision. Venture capital funding rose 51% last year to $320bn, the Small Business Administration has increased credit availability for manufacturers and is guaranteeing a higher level of bank loans, and small business loan approvals held at about 52% last year. Consumer spending rose sharply last month to a rate significantly above inflation, and credit-card delinquency rates and bank charge-offs have been falling quarterly since 2024. The American Bankruptcy Institute reported that small business bankruptcy filings jumped 67% this past quarter over the prior year.