The agreement between the US and China to roll back their respective tariffs for 90 days has led to renewed optimism that the worst of America’s trade wars is over. I’m not seeing the “breakthrough”: There’s still plenty of scope for economic damage that the Federal Reserve will struggle to contain. First, the rollback might…
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is pushing back against President Donald Trump after deftly avoiding confrontation for months. In a question and answer session on Wednesday, Powell portrayed chaotically implemented tariffs as plainly bad for the economy; slammed the approach taken by the Department of Government Efficiency; and issued a legal defence for why…
The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, is driving blindfolded. That’s my single most important takeaway from its policy announcement last week. On the predictable side, the Fed kept policy rates in a range of 4.25-4.5%, and the rate-setting committee pledged to slow the pace at which it’s allowing securities to roll…
