The US is alone

America is alone.

Next week, the Federal Reserve will make one of its most anticipated monetary policy announcements in years.

Currently, the market doesn't expect the Fed to raise rates in September. But expectations are still that at some point this year, the Fed will raise rates for the first time since 2006.

Now, when the Fed does act, it's expected to keep rates "lower for longer," raising rates in a gradual manner and relative to its historical policy, keeping rates quite low.

But as this chart from Morgan Stanley shows, even a slight change in stance makes the US look very different from both developed and emerging markets.

It's a world full of easy monetary policy - meaning low interest rates and, in the case of the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan, outright asset purchases - and even a slight change from the Federal Reserve puts the US on an island.

Morgan Stanley