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Michelle Bowman, who advocated for 25 basis points of rate cut, believes moving at measured pace will ensure bringing inflation down to 2%Michelle Bowman, a member of the US Federal Reserve Board of Governors, said Friday she views the central bank's jumbo interest rate cut as a "premature declaration of victory" on inflation. Bowman, who was the only member of the Federal Open Market Committee voting for a 25 basis points of rate cut instead of 50 basis points, said core inflation remains above 2.5%. "We have not yet achieved our inflation goal," she said in a statement. "I see...

The six one-offs that drove growth and pulled the global economy out of bubble-bust recessions for the past 30 years have all reversed or dissipated. Absent these one-off drivers, the global economy is stumbling off the cliff into a deep recession without any replacement drivers. Colloquially speaking, the global economy is toast.Here are the six one-offs that won't be coming back:1) China's industrialization.2) Growth-positive demographics.3) Low interest rates.4) Low debt levels.5) Low inflation.6) Tech productivity boom.Cutting to the chase, China bailed the world out of the last three recessions triggered by credit-asset bubbles popping: the Asian Contagion of 1997-98, the...

Leftists are desperate to have the Federal Reserve cut interest rates, believing that higher rates are hampering the “country’s ability to combat the climate crisis.” As the media increasingly speculates about the prospect of the Federal Reserve cutting rates in September, clean energy companies and their backers on Wall Street are hoping that the presumed rate cuts would alleviate the heavy borrowing costs for “Big Renewables” over the last two years. Charlie Gailliot, a global cohead of climate at the private equity firm KKR, said, “The energy transition is very capital-intense. In a lower rate environment, you’ll see a tailwind...

As the seller’s market persists throughout most of the United States, prices continue to rise and affordable housing appears to be slipping through the fingers of the average American.(Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock)The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported the highest ever national median sales price of $419,300 for a single-family home in May.“We’re actually forecasting that home prices will continue to grow based on the lack of inventory and demand for home ownership,” Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research, told The Epoch Times.A $400,000 price tag translates to a $40,000 down payment—with the...

The uptick in the June unemployment rate along with significant downward revisions in the job additions for April and May are the latest signs that the economy may be slowing down under high Federal Reserve interest rates. The Friday numbers from the Labor Department showed the unemployment rate increasing to 4.1 percent in June from 4 percent in April, the third month in a row of 0.1-percentage point increases. Jobs added to the economy in May were revised down to 218,000 from 272,000 and in April to 108,000 from 165,000. While the economy added a healthy 206,000 jobs in the...

Mortgage rates dipped just under 7% this week after crossing above that threshold in the prior reading as rates remain stubbornly high, stifling the housing market. Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage ticked down to 6.99% this week from 7.03% last week. The average rate on a 30-year loan was 6.71% a year ago. The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage also decreased to 6.29% from 6.36% last week. One year ago, the rate on the 15-year fixed note averaged 6.07%.

Borrowing to pay for college is about to get more expensive: The interest rate on new federal student loans for undergraduates during the upcoming 2024-25 academic year will be the highest in 12 years. The federal student loan interest rate will be 6.53% for undergraduate students, up from 5.5% for the current year. The interest rate has not been that high on any undergraduate loans since the 2012-13 school year. Graduate students will see an 8.08% interest rate this coming academic year, up from 7.05%. And PLUS loans, which are available to both parents and graduate students, will come with...

Slower growth and rising inflation has brought back distant cries that stagflation is coming. This would force interest rates to stay higher for longer, putting pressure on US businesses and consumers. One investor says anyone looking to hedge this risk should focus on fixed income. A pair of economic reports has brought back a word no central banker ever wants to hear: stagflation. The difficult scenario occurs when inflation rises and growth stalls, a dangerous combination just experienced by the US economy. Worries emerged when Thursday's first-quarter GDP reading slumped against expectations, growing at an annualized 1.6% rate. That's a...

A series of weak auctions for U.S. Treasurys are stoking investors’ concerns that markets will struggle to absorb an incoming rush of government debt. ... inflation not tamed ... Federal Reserve will leave interest rates at multidecade highs for .. years to come. The 10-year yield—the benchmark for borrowing rates on everything from mortgages to corporate loans—finished the week around 4.5%... At the same time, the government is poised to sell another $386 billion or so of bonds in May—an onslaught that Wall Street expects to continue no matter who wins November’s presidential election. While few fear a failed auction—an...

CONCERN has mounted over Russia’s central bank governor after she suddenly cancelled an appearance at an exhibition without explanation. It comes amid circulating rumours that Elvira Nabiullina, 60, has undergone an unspecified surgery at the Kremlin. Russia's central bank has declined to comment on the rumours, Reuters reported. The Kremlin has also refused to comment on the surgery rumours, appearing annoyed at the question. “I do not consider this question appropriate at our conference call,” Putin’s spokesman told journalists today. "This is absolutely personal information about health and we have neither the scope nor the desire to comment on it."

Trump Predicts the Fed Will Lower Rates to Help Democrats We also were keen to ask Trump if he thinks the Federal Reserve and Chairman Jerome Powell will cut interest rates specifically to help Joe Biden (or another Democrat) win the general election. The former President said he does think that is how things will play out. "Yeah, I think they will,” he said, before taking a light dig at Powell. “I was never a big fan of this guy,” Trump told us, before casually pointing the finger at his own Treasury Secretary. “Steve Mnuchin recommended him, but I was...

Russia's central bank has today raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16%, hiking borrowing costs for the fifth meeting in a row under stubborn inflation pressure from widespread labour shortages, high lending and the weak rouble. The central bank has now raised rates by 850 basis points since July, including an unscheduled emergency hike in August as the rouble tumbled past 100 to the dollar and the Kremlin called for tighter monetary policy. The bank said pro-inflationary risks over the medium-term horizon remained substantial and warned that stabilising inflation near its 4% target would require high...

The Dow Jones industrial Average jumped to a record Wednesday as the Federal Reserve signaled it would cut rates several times next year, satisfying investors who hoped the central bank would finally start to acknowledge the slowing trend of inflation with a less-aggressive monetary stance. The 30-stock Dow added 374 points, or 1%. At its high of the day, the Dow touched 37,057.81 to surpass 37,000 for the first time and exceed its previous all-time high in January of 2022. The S&P 500 jumped 1% with bank and real estate shares leading the way, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1%....

Mortgage rates jumped again this week — remaining at a 23-year high and increasing the likelihood that rates could soon hit 8%. The rate on the average 30-year fixed mortgage increased to 7.49% from 7.31% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac, following the yield of the 10-year Treasury, which spiked to a 16-year high this week. Rates are at their highest point since December 2000 for a second week in a row, with few signs of softening. Steeper rates continue to smother homebuyer demand, forcing the price-conscious to the sidelines. Meanwhile, those still on the hunt leaned on lower-rate...

A Wall Street selloff intensified Tuesday as rising Treasury yields piled on pressure and investors got a reminder not to expect a Federal Reserve interest rate cut any time soon. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped almost 1.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) tumbled about 1.1%, or more than 350 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was down over 1.5% after closing with a gain on Monday. Hawkish comments by Fed policymakers reminded investors that resilience in the US economy likely means borrowing costs will stay higher for longer. Traders are now pricing in odds of 29% that policymakers...

The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged at a two-decade high, but suggested at least one more increase is likely between now and the end of the year as inflation remains elevated and the economy continues to perform. The Fed's Open Markets Committee held its key policy rate at between 5.25% and 5.5%, the highest in 22 years, in a move that was widely expected from markets following a quarter point rate hike in July. The Fed's new Summary of Economic projections, known as the dot plots, now calls for GDP stronger growth of 2.1% this year, more...

Interest rates on new mortgages remained broadly steady in July compared to the previous month, new data from the Central Bank shows. The average interest rate for new mortgage agreements was 4.06% for the month. That compares to 4.04% in June. New fixed rate mortgage rates averaged 4.04%, while new variable rate home loans averaged 4.18% Despite the small month on month increase though, compared to July of last year, new mortgage interest rates are 1.43% higher. That is reflective of some of the European Central Bank interest rate increases being passed through to borrowers. Since July of 2022, the...

Inflation accelerated in July: The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, rose 3.3% over one year earlier, up from June’s 3%. That’s still below the peak of 7% last summer — but heading back up in the wrong direction. Some claim it’s just a fluke. In fact, it’s most likely thanks to President Joe Biden’s new spending spree — care of the woefully misnamed “Inflation Reduction Act” kicking in — and means a whole new round of rising prices. That law, as we noted at the time, actually increased federal spending, and the deficit, in the...

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates as long as it is needed to bring inflation back to its long-term target of 2% per year given that the US economy is not cooling as was initially thought, Chairman Jerome Powell said on Friday. “It is the Fed’s job to bring inflation down to our 2% goal, and we will do so,” Powell stressed, opening the US central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Inflation hit four-decade highs of more than 9% per year in June 2022 due to trillions of dollars of federal relief spending...

KEY POINTS • The median price of a home sold in July was $406,700, an increase of 1.9% from July of last year. • Sales fell month to month in all regions except the West, where they gained 2.7%. Sales fell the most in the Northeast, down 5.9%. • There were 1.11 million homes for sale at the end of July, 14.6% fewer than July 2022 and about half of the pre-Covid supply. Sales of previously owned homes dropped 2.2% in July from June to a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 4.07 million units, according to the National Association of...