How the Federal Reserve's inflation fight today compares with the '70s and '80s

Decades ago, the Fed was battling double-digit inflation, and Chair Paul Volcker took aggressive action that drove interest rates way up.
As Fed chair, Paul Volcker aggressively fought raging inflation, driving interest rates far higher than they are today. Above, Volcker in 2005.
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Fed expected to leave benchmark rate unchanged at June meeting. Is that risky?

Jun 10, 2024
The latest jobs report is unlikely to change the Fed's mind when they meet Tuesday and Wednesday.
The latest jobs report is unlikely to change the Fed's mind when they meet Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Why the European Central Bank is cutting interest rates now

Jun 6, 2024
Inflation has eased in Europe as prices fall for electricity and other items that were affected by supply shortages from the Ukraine war.
Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank. Energy prices, lifted by supply shortages caused by Russia's war in Ukraine, played a big role in inflation on the Continent.
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High interest rates have frozen the real estate market. When will it thaw?

May 23, 2024
Mortgage rates have popped back up above 7%, sales have fallen and builder sentiment is down. 5% would get things moving, per one economist.
Mortgage rates above 7% weigh on the housing market. Buyers can’t afford the high monthly payments, and sellers don’t want to move and give up their cheap loans.
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Gen Z is taking on more credit card debt

May 9, 2024
The credit bureau TransUnion is out with a report showing that borrowers aged 22 to 24 are carrying an average of $2,834 in credit card debt — about a quarter more than millennials in the same age range a decade ago.
Adjusted for inflation, members of Gen Z ages 22 to 24 are carrying roughly a quarter more debt than millennials in the same age range a decade ago.
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Business owners are warily stocking their inventories

May 8, 2024
With interest rate cuts uncertain, businesses owners are keeping their shelves a little leaner. But that's not necessarily a bad sign.
Businesses don't know if the Fed will cut rates this year. As a result, “they’re making decisions, in some cases, to postpone purchases until they absolutely need it,” says Dale Rogers at ASU.
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Why does the world want dollars? Because of high interest rates, thriving economy in U.S.

Apr 23, 2024
The greenback is so strong that Japan and South Korea have complained.
“The U.S. has strong growth, strong earnings potential, and so we’re drawing in global equity investment,” said Win Thin at Brown Brothers Harriman.
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For public good, not for profit.

Why it's gotten more expensive to house people experiencing homelessness

Apr 22, 2024
Higher interest rates and insurance costs make building low-income and supportive housing more costly —  especially in California, home to 28% of the U.S. homeless population.
The costs of constructing housing for the unhoused are being hammered by higher interest rates.
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If the Federal Reserve waits to cut interest rates, will the European Central Bank follow suit?

Apr 11, 2024
Inflation’s up again in the U.S. while the EU is edging closer to its target. That brings the ECB to a bit of a fork in the road.
If the U.S. and EU economies are diverging, the central banks may pursue different policies, said finance professor Bill English.
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Interest rates worldwide might start falling as central banks meet this week

Mar 18, 2024
Switzerland may be the first to start rolling back the recent round of rate hikes.
The European Central Bank is expected to be among the first central banks to start cutting rates, says Sharyn O’Halloran at Columbia Business School.
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