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      interest rates

      ​Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell

      Ignoring Warnings of Mass Job Loss, Fed Hikes Rates to Highest Level in Decades

      "The dangerous reflex to hike rates, no matter the causes of inflation, is both a policy failure and a failure to imagine a world in which workers are anything other than expendable," said one economist.

      Kenny Stancil
      Jul 26, 2023

      Progressives on Wednesday rebuked the U.S. Federal Reserve for raising interest rates by another 25 basis points, arguing that the move threatens to throw millions of people out of work while failing to address the root causes of inflation.

      Wednesday's interest rate hike—the 11th in 16 months—pushes benchmark borrowing costs to a target range of 5.25%-5.5%, their highest level since early 2001. It also ignores the advice of numerous academics and lawmakers who have long contended that job-killing rate hikes are incapable of tackling the corporate price gouging that is contributing significantly to the cost-of-living crisis.

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      U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington, D.C. on June 14, 2023.

      With Inflation Down, Economists Demand Fed Permanently Halt 'Dangerous Rate-Hiking'

      "As interest rates have risen to 'cool' the economy, who do you think has shouldered the burden? Working people," said Robert Reich. "There's no reason to continue punishing them when they aren't to blame for inflation."

      Jessica Corbett
      Jun 14, 2023

      After the latest consumer price index update signaled cooling inflation, the Federal Reserve's interest rate-setting committee on Wednesday temporarily paused hikes, an approach that progressive economists and others want the panel to continue.

      The Federal Open Market Committee confirmation that, as expected, it will keep the federal funds rate at 5-5.25% follows 10 consecutive hikes since early 2022 that have increasingly generated concerns of a recession and major job losses.

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      Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell holds a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee meeting on March 22, 2023 in Washington, D.C.

      The Fed Accused of 'Playing With Fire' After Latest Rate Hike

      "It shouldn't take a lot of courage to resist another interest rate hike when the economy is this fragile," said one critic.

      Jessica Corbett
      Mar 22, 2023

      Progressive economists and other experts blasted Federal Reserve leadership on Wednesday for raising interest rates yet again despite concerns about recent bank failures and how the quarter-point increase will impact the U.S. and global economies.

      "Once again, interest rate hikes are going to fall hardest on low-wage workers and the poor—the same people who have already been hurt the most by rising prices," tweeted University of California, Berkeley professor and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. "Higher rates could also imperil more banks, and risk even more financial chaos. The Fed is playing with fire."

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