Trump Whines That Fed Is 'Playing Politics' With Rate Cut
The interest-rate setting body has not cut rates so close to an election since 1992.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by 0.5 percent, or 50 basis points, yesterday, triggering a pout by a certain Orange Cheeto. Via The Daily Beast:
Asked for his reaction at a New York City campaign stop, the former president said, “I guess it shows the economy is very bad to cut it by that much—assuming they’re not just playing politics. The economy would be very bad or they’re playing politics, one or the other.”
Earlier in the day, the Fed cut its key borrowing rate from 5.25 to 5.50 percent—setting banks’ short-term borrowing rates between 4.75 and 5 percent. Markets rose immediately on the cut, the biggest since crisis measures taken in 2008 as the economy collapsed into the Great Recession.
“The Committee has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent, and judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance,” the Fed said in a statement.