On March 7, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell indicated that he was prepared to raise interest rates by 50 basis points later this month (March 22) in order to cool the economy that has shown surprising strength.
In his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Powell said, “The latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated. If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes.”
Morgan Stanley economists said that Powell opened the door to raising rates by a half a percentage point. They wrote, “Chair Powell’s assessment of the economic outlook acknowledged that higher rates are impacting interest-sensitive components of the economy, including housing, but that there has been a concerning reacceleration in activity in January, partly reversing the softening trends that we had seen in the data just a month ago.”
Analysts believe that Mr. Powell’s comments reflected declining confidence in our central bank’s ability to bring down inflation to its 2% goal over the next few years without causing a recession.
Why will the Fed change policy?
The personal-consumption expenditure price index (PCE), the Fed’s favorite inflation measure, has revved up again. PCE rose .6% in January, the highest since June.
In 30 days, the position of the Fed has changed dramatically. In early February, central bank officials felt that moving in smaller steps would better allow them to assess the effects of last year’s rapid increases and reduce the risk of raising rates too much.
The impact of interest rate changes:Interest rates affect the ability of consumers and businesses to access credit
Our Economic Illiteracy:We find ourselves in a moment of especially unprecedented economic ignorance.
Doc’s Prescription: The debate over raising the debt ceiling
During the pandemic, the Federal Reserve held down rates to near zero. Subsequently, the Fed has lifted the rate more over the last 12 months than any time since the early 1980’s.
In February, the Fed increased the benchmark federal-funds rate by only 25 basis points to a range between 4.5% and 4.75%; followed increases of .50 basis points in December and .75 basis points in November and at three previous meetings.
Mohamed El-Erian commented on CNBC: “The Federal Reserve flip-flopping on monetary policy is threatening to send the U.S. economy into a recession … much of the economic anxiety can be laid at the feet of the Fed officials, who he said should have held to their more aggressive hikes rather than the 25-basis point increase approved on Feb. 1.”