Trump to Fed: Slash Rates Now

For the second time this month, President Donald Trump has taken to Twitter in calling out the Federal Reserve to slash rates back to the December 2017 level.

 

In a two-part tweet, the president addressed the central bank by stating, “China is adding great stimulus to its economy while at the same time keeping interest rates low. Our Federal Reserve has incessantly lifted interest rates, even though inflation is very low, and instituted a very big dose of quantitative tightening. We have the potential to go up like a rocket if we did some lowering of rates, like one point, and some quantitative easing. Yes, we are doing very well at 3.2 percent GDP, but with our wonderfully low inflation, we could be setting major records &, at the same time, make our National Debt start to look small!”

 

Earlier this month, the president tweeted out his unhappiness with Fed policy, claiming that if “the Fed not mistakenly raised interest rates, especially since there is very little inflation, and had they not done the ridiculously timed quantitative tightening, the 3.0 percent GDP, & Stock Market, would have both been much higher & World Markets would be in a better place!”

 

The Fed has hiked rates nine times December 2015 and Chairman Jerome Powell, a Trump appointee, has repeatedly given the impression that there will be no further rate hikes. The Fed set the current benchmark interest rate in a range between 2.25 percent and 2.5 percent.

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