Fed Risks Trump’s Fury With Historic Interest Rate Cut

The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by 0.5 per cent Tuesday—thrusting it into the center of a political firestorm.

It cut its key borrowing rate from 5.25 to 5.50 per cent to 4.75 to 5 per cent. Markets rose immediately on the cut, the biggest since crisis measures taken in 2008 as the economy collapsed into the Great Recession.

But the cut is also the most politically-charged action taken in recent history by the interest-rate setting body—because former president Donald Trump had repeatedly demanded that it keep interest rates stable before the election. He and his aides think a cut in the cost of borrowing would benefit Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign by convincing people that the economy is strong and by reducing concerns over inflation.

Read more at The Daily Beast.