Free Republic

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage point at its meeting that concludes Wednesday. Other items markets will be watching include quarterly economic and rate projections and Chairman Jerome Powell’s post-meeting news conference. Judging by recent market action and commentary, the expectation is for a hawkish hard line. There’s not a lot of mystery surrounding Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting, with markets widely expecting the central bank to approve its third consecutive three-quarter point interest rate hike. That doesn’t mean there isn’t considerable intrigue, though. While the Fed almost certainly will deliver what...

Surge beats analyst expectations.. Electricity producer prices up 174.9% on the year.. Excluding energy, August up only 14% year-on-year ... German producer prices rose in August at their strongest rate since records began both in annual and monthly terms, driven mainly by soaring energy prices, raising the chances that headline inflation will surge even higher. Producer prices of industrial products increased by 45.8% on the same month last year, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Tuesday. Compared to July 2022, prices rose 7.9%, it added.. ... The surge was considerably stronger than expected, with analysts having forecast a 37.1% year-on-year...

The euro zone may suffer a recession over the winter as risks to the growth outlook are intensifying, but even that is not enough to reduce inflation without further rate hikes, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Wednesday. Growth has been suffering due to high energy costs and a loss of Russian gas, raising the risk of energy rationing over the winter while households and businesses take a financial hit from high costs. ...

PolitiFact had the audacity to argue like President Joe Biden’s eco-extremist policies didn't really have anything to do with America’s energy inflation crisis, continuing to prove why its worthless so-called “fact-checks” belong in the trash bin. The Facebook fact-checker seethed at Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) for daring to tweet in August: “Democrats' radical green energy policies caused record gas prices. They want to fundamentally transform our economy." PolitiFact rebuked Johnson for his wrongthink and falsely stated: “Green energy policies didn’t cause record prices at gasoline pumps” and suggested Johnson said this, of course, simply because he was “locked in a...

Democrats are pumping an unprecedented amount of money into advertising related to abortion rights, underscoring how central the message is to the party in the final weeks before the November midterm elections. With the most intense period of campaigning only just beginning, Democrats have already invested more than an estimated $124 million this year in television advertising referencing abortion. That’s more than twice as much money as the Democrats’ next top issue this year, “character,” and almost 20 times more than Democrats spent on abortion-related ads in the 2018 midterms. The estimated spending figures, based on an Associated Press analysis...

On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said that government spending is a cause of inflation, but it was needed to avoid a recession and that while the Inflation Reduction Act will bring inflation “down a bit,” in the immediate term, “I don’t think that the ultimate source of inflation is going to be this act that will bring it down. I think it’s going to be Fed policy.” Khanna said, “Obviously, inflation is an issue, people are still paying too much for food, for basic products, for their needs. But how do...

The US housing market is in the midst of a “deep recession” that could put pressure on the Federal Reserve to ease up on interest rate hikes, a prominent economist warned on Monday. Homebuilder confidence declined for the ninth straight month in September as surging mortgage rates and steep prices pushed many buyers out of the market, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Builder confidence fell to its lowest level since 2014 when excluding the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the index showed. The prolonged downturn in confidence shows the housing market has been “in a tailspin...

In June we reported that consumer credit - particular revolving credit - was through the roof, as tapped-out consumers relied on credit cards to make ends meet. This has only gotten worse.. Illustration: Aïda Amer/AxiosAcccording to an Aug. 30 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, credit card balances increased by $46 billion from last year, becoming the second-biggest source of overall debt last quarter.While both student and car loans hit all time new highs at the end of the 1st quarter.And so it comes as no surprise from Bloomberg that more US consumers are saddled with credit...

New Yorkers are feeling more optimistic about the economy, according to a new Siena College poll released Wednesday, Sept. 14. The New York State Index of Consumer Sentiment was up 9.1 points to 70.8 in the third quarter of 2022, the poll found. That’s 12.6 points above the nation’s Index of 58.2. The current index rose nearly 12 points from the previous quarter to 64.1 and the future index increased nearly eight points from 67.6 to 75.2, researchers found. Future confidence in the state is 17.2 points higher than the nation’s 58.0. “New Yorkers’ collective sentiment continues to outpace the...

More Americans are racking up credit card debt as inflation pushes up the cost of food, utilities and other staples. According a new report from CreditCards.com, 60% of credit card holders have been carrying balances on their cards for at least a year, up 10% from 2021. "It's even harder to get out of debt when it's spending on necessities that got you into that position in the first place," said Ted Rossman, senior analyst at Creditcards.com. "These expenses aren't easily avoided."

Twenty-one-year incumbent and pro-impeachment Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has decided before the midterm election to defend President Joe Biden’s massive spending spree that has fueled soaring inflation. When questioned by KHNS radio Friday about why she voted for the $1.2 trillion “infrastructure” bill that fueled inflation, Murkowski said she was “purposeful” that the spending would not contribute to inflation.

Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson announced in a message to all employees that 11% of its workforce would be laid off, stating that they made the layoffs through an "Anti-Racist" and "Anti-Oppression" lens. The San Francisco-based corporate communications company CEO said in the message to employees that the layoffs are "wise and necessary." "I'm not going to sugarcoat things. A layoff is the last thing we want to do, but I believe it's wise and necessary. Twilio has grown at an astonishing rate over the past couple years. It was too fast, and without enough focus on our most important company...

The White House-brokered agreement to avert a railroad strike has the potential to fall apart, threatening widespread economic disruption right before the midterm elections. Rail workers are set to vote on the tentative deal reached between unions and railroads Thursday morning. If any of the 12 rail unions fail to ratify a new contract, nearly 125,000 rail workers could be headed for a strike. The agreement would mandate two-person crews, cap health care costs and allow workers to take time off for medical appointments or other scheduled events without being penalized, all key concessions won by unions. The deal also...

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Philippians 2:3-4 (King James Version) The world is begging Uncle Joe, enough of the inflation torture you are creating. Enough of the choking of America and the world of the basic lifeblood which is oil and energy for your Global Warming religious fanatics. Everyone knows it is a fraud just like the virus and vax, but you have the power and are going...

On Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he was shocked by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) blocking his school safety bill. Sen. Chris Murphy blocked the bill with just two words: "I object." And then he walked out of the chamber. (video)

Billionaire real estate investor Barry Sternlicht said he believes the economy is "braking hard" and that the continuation of rate hikes is likely to cause a "major crash" in housing. “The economy is braking hard,” the chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group said on CNBC earlier on Thursday. “If the Fed keeps this up they are going to have a serious recession and people will lose their jobs." "You are going to have a major crash in the housing market and housing prices are going down," Sternlicht said. "You are seeing housing prices correct."

The chairman and CEO of energy company Chevron has warned Americans to brace for price increases in natural gas this winter. CEO Mike Wirth made the comments in an interview with CNN on Sept. 13 in which he warned consumers that “there’s certainly a risk that costs will go up” when it comes to natural gas. “Prices already are very high relative to history and relative to the rest of the world. We’re already seeing this impact being felt in the European economy and I do think it’s likely that Europe goes into a recession,” Wirth said. Europe has been...

Cardi B is the latest to voice outrage over the decades-high inflation and surging rents that are hammering American households this year. The “WAP” rapper provided her profanity-laced views on the state of the US economy in an Instagram live video this week– griping about a lack of available inventory and surging mortgage rates that have made it more difficult for homebuyers to afford properties. SNIP The outspoken, Grammy Award-winning artist said she was likewise shocked at how much rents have surged while helping a cousin find an apartment.

President Joe Biden and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg addressed the Detroit Auto Show Wednesday to boast about their infrastructure policies, even as a massive rail strike looms that could shut down freight and some passenger traffic.

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) stated that the Inflation Reduction Act is “partly about bringing down utility costs, and it’s partly about bringing down healthcare costs.” But admitted it only does so in the long run and stated that “long-term is where, I think, everybody in America would like to see those prices come down.” Host Andrea Mitchell said, “[T]he Inflation Reduction Act, so named, doesn’t really reduce inflation. It brings the deficit down, less than one might have hoped because of Manchin and Sinema taking things out on the tax piece of...