Your paycheck just got weaker again.

[Always in His Presence]

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/22/1165274305/the-fed-raises-interest-rates-again-despite-the-stress-hitting-the-banking-syste

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the ninth time in a row on Wednesday, opting to continue its campaign against high inflation despite stress in the banking industry following the collapse of two regional banks.​

​

Fed policymakers voted unanimously to raise their benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to just under 5%, which will make it more expensive for people seeking car loans or carrying a balance on their credit cards.​

​

Jimmy Carter part two continues....

Meanwhile, consumer prices continue to climb at a rapid rate. Annual inflation in February was 6% — down from 9.1% last June, but still well above the Fed's target of 2%.​

 

[Larniavc]

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/22/1165274305/the-fed-raises-interest-rates-again-despite-the-stress-hitting-the-banking-syste

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the ninth time in a row on Wednesday, opting to continue its campaign against high inflation despite stress in the banking industry following the collapse of two regional banks.​

​

Fed policymakers voted unanimously to raise their benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to just under 5%, which will make it more expensive for people seeking car loans or carrying a balance on their credit cards.​

​

Jimmy Carter part two continues....

Meanwhile, consumer prices continue to climb at a rapid rate. Annual inflation in February was 6% — down from 9.1% last June, but still well above the Fed's target of 2%.​

Choose to get a better job or work harder? I'm told many Americans have side hustles.

Bootstraps, m'boy!

 

[Always in His Presence]

Choose to get a better job or work harder? I'm told many Americans have side hustles.

Bootstraps, m'boy!

It was simpler with Jimmy Carter part one - they just replaced him. Hopefully history will repeat itself.

Sending him packing is a whole lot better that bootstraps m'boy.

Note: I am not trying to gender assign you - just replying in kind.

 

[DaisyDay]

It was simpler with Jimmy Carter part one - they just replaced him. Hopefully history will repeat itself.

Sending him packing is a whole lot better that bootstraps m'boy.

Note: I am not trying to gender assign you - just replying in kind.

The Federal Reserve is independent of the president.

 

[Nithavela]

I wonder how many times they will increase the interest until people finally stop buying groceries.

That seems to be the goal at this point.

 

[Always in His Presence]

The Federal Reserve is independent of the president.

Well not long after Jimmy was soundly run out of office. The federal reserve had different out looks. It took some time, but the prime came down out of the teens.

 

[iluvatar5150]

I wonder how many times they will increase the interest until people finally stop buying groceries.

That seems to be the goal at this point.

Interest rate hikes slow inflation.

 

[rambot]

Well not long after Jimmy was soundly run out of office. The federal reserve had different out looks. It took some time, but the prime came down out of the teens.

Imagine how easy it would be if the Republicans just chose a candidate who wasn't Trump....even DeSantis

Haley seems to be a somewhat popular moderate who would earn more trust from moderates and old school cons I think.

 

[Nithavela]

Interest rate hikes slow inflation.

So people keep repeating. But they don't when the inflation is mostly caused by big oil raking in the profits from inflated oil and natural gas prices.

And don't tell me that it's because of Russia, because Big Oil had the highest profit margins in decades.

Interest rate hikes, in theory cause people to no longer buy things and thus have demand drop. But we're at a point where a lot of people already have bottomed out on what they can not buy. Do you want people to stop eating? Stop driving their car? Do you want the industry to stop producing medicine or other essential products that depend on oil and gas as their ressources and/or need high amounts of energy?

Which demand exactly is driven down here? Certainly not the one for luxus cars and yachts.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Interest rate hikes slow inflation.

Right....inflation I was warning about back in 2021 when the response was "supply chains".

Why bailout these banks that made risky investments though? Why all this interest rate hiking if our unemployment is at record lows?


*On second glance, unemployment is back up...despite adding jobs. I wonder if that's got something to do with the 5 million new poor we added under Biden and this new child labor thing we're trying out.

 

[Ana the Ist]

So people keep repeating. But they don't when the inflation is mostly caused by big oil raking in the profits from inflated oil and natural gas prices.

And don't tell me that it's because of Russia, because Big Oil had the highest profit margins in decades.

Interest rate hikes, in theory cause people to no longer buy things and thus have demand drop. But we're at a point where a lot of people already have bottomed out on what they can not buy. Do you want people to stop eating? Stop driving their car? Do you want the industry to stop producing medicine or other essential products that depend on oil and gas as their ressources and/or need high amounts of energy?

Which demand exactly is driven down here? Certainly not the one for luxus cars and yachts.

Are you in Germany? What's gas there now that we've gone and blown up the Nordstream pipeline in a very unfriendly way?

 

[Ana the Ist]

Imagine how easy it would be if the Republicans just chose a candidate who wasn't Trump....even DeSantis

Imagine how easy it would be if Biden continues to drive the economy into the dirt. Show me a Democrat who understands the economy and I'll show you a Democrat who voted against the Dems for a year when their multi-trillion corporate handout had a few more trillions attached to it. What were their names? Manchin and Synema? Well, you still have Manchin. Does his stubbornness seem like a bad quality in retrospect? Or do you wish this administration had put the progressive agenda first and flushed a few more trillion down the drain?

Haley seems to be a somewhat popular moderate who would earn more trust from moderates and old school cons I think.

Don't know anything about Haley. I don't know why you think moderates hold much appeal. Do they hold any appeal on the left after Joe?

 

[iluvatar5150]

Why all this interest rate hiking if our unemployment is at record lows?

Low unemployment is an indicator of a hot economy and is inflationary. Interest rate hikes counter both of those - they’ll likely increase unemployment.

 

[Hans Blaster]

Low unemployment is an indicator of a hot economy and is inflationary. Interest rate hikes counter both of those - they’ll likely increase unemployment.

That'll make peoples paychecks weaker.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Low unemployment is an indicator of a hot economy and is inflationary. Interest rate hikes counter both of those - they’ll likely increase unemployment.

Yeah traditionally....as of late last year though, most economists realized this trend wasn't necessarily applicable.

Solving the puzzle of high inflation, weak growth and low unemployment

To understand what is happening, one needs to consider how the pandemic unfolded, the policy response to it and the ways businesses and workers altered their behavior.

thehill.com

There's far better articles but most of them are paywalled.

 

[Ana the Ist]

That'll make peoples paychecks weaker.

Any way you slice it, we're still at historic inflation levels. Let me put it this way...

2018. Unemployment? Around 3.9%. Inflation? Around 2.6%.

Right now...

Unemployment? 3.6%

Inflation? 6.0%

See the problem? We traded a whopping 3% of inflation for 0.3% employment.

 

[rambot]

Imagine how easy it would be if Biden continues to drive the economy into the dirt.

I think the issue is that the economy is going too well....fyi. Do you have the stats to show he's driving the economy into the dirt?

Show me a Democrat who understands the economy and I'll show you a Democrat who voted against the Dems for a year when their multi-trillion corporate handout had a few more trillions attached to it. What were their names? Manchin and Synema? Well, you still have Manchin. Does his stubbornness seem like a bad quality in retrospect? Or do you wish this administration had put the progressive agenda first and flushed a few more trillion down the drain?

Yeah...nothing says flushing money down the drain than fixing up Americas third world infrastructure. I mean fair enough, who needs safe bridges?

Don't know anything about Haley. I don't know why you think moderates hold much appeal. Do they hold any appeal on the left after Joe?

 

[iluvatar5150]

Any way you slice it, we're still at historic inflation levels. Let me put it this way...

2018. Unemployment? Around 3.9%. Inflation? Around 2.6%.

Right now...

Unemployment? 3.6%

Inflation? 6.0%

See the problem? We traded a whopping 3% of inflation for 0.3% employment.

With 128.6 million prime working age people in the US, a reduction of unemployment by 0.3% points could mean an extra 386,000 jobs.

Having high inflation is not great, but neither is having the equivalent of a mid-sized city out of work.

I’ve been coming around to the opinion that the 2% target is too low and leaves some (likely unreported) slack in the workforce that we’d do well to tighten up. That has the potential to do things like reduce the demand for over-credentialling and open up opportunities for folks who’ve been harder to employ, like those with spotty work and credit histories or criminal records.

 

[PsaltiChrysostom]

I think the issue is that the economy is going too well....fyi. Do you have the stats to show he's driving the economy into the dirt?



Yeah...nothing says flushing money down the drain than fixing up Americas third world infrastructure. I mean fair enough, who needs safe bridges?

Safe bridges, safe railroads, safe banks, safe... the list goes on. I guess the next complaint will be that Biden is to blame for inflation on bride prices in China.

In China, Marriage Rates Are Down and ‘Bride Prices’ Are Up

The 30 women sat in wooden chairs, facing each other in a rectangular formation. At the front of the room was the ruling Communist Party’s hammer and sickle logo, with a sign declaring the meeting’s purpose: “Symposium of unmarried young women of the right age.” Officials in Daijiapu, a town in...

news.yahoo.com

 

[Ana the Ist]

With 128.6 million prime working age people in the US, a reduction of unemployment by 0.3% points could mean an extra 386,000 jobs.

Ok.

Having high inflation is not great, but neither is having the equivalent of a mid-sized city out of work.

I wouldn't disagree with either of these points. I'd only add that when diffuse amongst the entire US, that number is less troublesome.

I’ve been coming around to the opinion that the 2% target is too low and leaves some (likely unreported) slack in the workforce that we’d do well to tighten up. That has the potential to do things like reduce the demand for over-credentialling and open up opportunities for folks who’ve been harder to employ, like those with spotty work and credit histories or criminal records.

Yeah well they're going to stay harder to employ, sadly, because we've imported an illegal labor force of several million under Biden.

I get that the bootstrap saying is very cliche and not very good at encapsulating the entire picture (which is why I tend to stay away from it) but when you have a criminal record or bad work history etc, you probably won't be shooting to upper level management on your new job. You have to start around the bottom of the economic "ladder" somewhere....and that's not easy to do when it's densely packed with illegal labor.