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      jerome powell

      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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      Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies before the House Committee on Financial Services on Capitol Hill

      Critics Warn Another Fed Rate Hike Would Be the 'Straw That Breaks the Camel's Back'

      One economist slammed the Fed for "protecting wealthy venture capitalists and startup CEOs" while showing "little concern for the millions of people who could lose their jobs."

      Jake Johnson
      Mar 21, 2023

      Federal Reserve policymakers convened Tuesday for a two-day meeting that will culminate in a decision with major implications for the U.S. and global economies, which have been jarred by recent banking sector chaos and growing fears of a broader financial crisis.

      The Fed is widely, though not universally, expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday despite concerns that the central bank's tightening of monetary policy over the past year is at least partially responsible for the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a top lender to tech startups and venture capital firms.

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      Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questions Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at a hearing on March 7, 2023.

      Warren Demands Probe Into Bank Failures, Urges Biden to Fire Powell

      Jerome Powell "has failed," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren. "I don't think he should be Chairman of the Federal Reserve."

      Kenny Stancil
      Mar 19, 2023

      Sen. Elizabeth Warren this weekend called on federal officials to investigate the causes of recent bank failures and urged President Joe Biden to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whom she has criticized for intensifying financial deregulation and imposing job- and wage-destroying interest rate hikes.

      Asked on Sunday by Chuck Todd of NBC's "Meet the Press" about the possibility of Powell imposing yet another interest rate hike despite ongoing market turmoil, Warren (D-Mass.) said, "I've been in the camp for a long time that these extraordinary rate increases that he has taken on, these extreme rate increases, are something that he should not be doing."

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