As interest rates rise, will borrower prudence, too?

Like a small cloud on a sunny beach, a quarter-point hike in short-term borrowing rates arrived over the economy Wednesday.

The beachgoers are unlikely to notice. The Federal Reserve has already jacked up rates and the pace of economic growth has risen not fallen. The stock and housing markets are doing splendidly. Consumer confidence is at a post-2000 high and rising.

The interest-rate horizon has been sunny for so long – nearly a decade, in fact – that Americans may have forgotten what happens when interest rates rise. But with more rate hikes predicted for next year after a full percentage point rise since last December – the fastest jump since 2006 –

Rate hikes and recessionsA credit-card hitTroubling signals