Daily Mail: Defiant Fed chair Jerome Powell says politics played 'no role whatsoever' on its decision to hike interest rates and vows 'nothing will deter us' after President Trump's failed effort to goad the central bank to hold off an increase
* The Federal Reserve announced its decision on rates after extraordinary public pressure from the president
* Hike of 0.25 per cent
* Benchmark rate at 2.5 per cent
* Said more rate increases were appropriate
* News wiped away morning 350 point gain in the Dow
* Powell said 'political considerations play no role whatsoever in our discussions'
* Said 'nothing will deter us from doing what we think is the right thing to do'
* Trump on Tuesday argued against a hike and urged the Fed to 'feel the market'
* He has also attacked Fed Chair Jerome Powell in interviews and on Twitter
* Decision comes amid a strong job market but some signs of economic cooling
* A volatile market has wiped out 2018's stock market gains
* The move impacts borrowing across the board
Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell said 'nothing' will deter independent central bankers from following their economic convictions – after an extraordinary pressure campaign by President Donald Trump to hold off on rate hikes.
Powell got asked repeatedly Wednesday about Trump's extended public push to hold off on further rate increases – which the Fed's rate committee brushed past as it came out with a 0.25 per cent increase in the Fed's closely-watched lending rate.
And though he didn't go after Trump by name, Powell, who was nominated by the president, proclaimed his independence when asked about the pressure tactics by multiple reporters at a rare press conference.
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WNU Editor: The impact of these rate hikes will be felt globally. This determination to raise these rates is also something that I have trouble understanding. Why raise rates when the economy is booming, and especially when you need a booming economy to minimize the government's budget deficits.
9 comments:
I made a prediction to a friend before the election that of Trump won, the Democrats would destroy the nation before they allowed Trump to have a successful presidency.
And they’re busy doing just that.
If anyone tries to make the case that Wall Street and the Fed are doing what they’re doing for any reason other than to sink the economy to damage Trump , I’ll enjoy hearing it.
The Fed was a well trained Lassie when Obama was president. Funny how they get destructive when the economy hits performance levels Obama could never achieve. Funny.
and the market?
You mean that "market" that's dominated by tech firms worth $trillions? The tech behemoths who can afford to make purposefully damaging decisions and take large losses given their massive financial clout? That market?
And add in GM with their firing of 15,000 people right before Christmas.
The losses don't hurt them but they do hurt their employees. And as a bonus, it creates violent angst in the minds of social media addicts who have their phones not more than 12 inches from their face 24/7.
You have to raise interest rates because when the economy slows down as it always will you need to be able to cut rates to boost the economy. I know it sounds stupid but it's true.
I see your point jeff smith, but right now there's no inflation. Unemployment is very low. Wages are up.
I think the Fed is inducing a slow down based on hiccups in China and EU. If we slow down a little, they slow down a lot. Why do it? It still makes no sense in this case.
Russ (5:08PM),
Sadly I think you're right. As this impact will be global, it appears that these people have no qualms about hurting good people worldwide to undrtmine a president they don't like.
In inventing the Russian collusion narrative, going out of their way to inflame tensions, and acting to undercut numerous diplomatic initiatives with arguably the world's most powerful country, they've already demonstrated that they have no problem with endangering the lives of good people for no good reason other than perhaps their blood lust for power As such, hurting the same people financially isn't such a big step for them.
Americans who have been under extreme financial stress for a long time have finally begun to see some relief due to tax cuts and regulatory reforms. The editor's analysis is absolutely correct. Raising interest rates right now is a bad idea.
While it may undermine a president they hate, it also undermines them. Hate does this to people. It causes them to lose control of their thought processes and they lose the ability to think rationally.
Yes, rates have stayed low far too long. I just hate the hike or cut idea. I think it should be a value that is always being micro managed and trended. This at, it's not a shock to the market just a pressure point.
It not always about the “deep state” trying to hurt this president people. Jeff and Michael have the only sensible comments on here. And the stock market is not the economy. I wonder if anybody remembers all the billions that are supposed to come back to United States because of the tax cuts. Russinsocal has a point there. There still is alot of imbalance in this economy.
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