Press Releases
Just a ‘Skip?’ Fed Can’t Justify More Job-Crushing Interest Rate Hikes Anytime Soon
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver his semi-annual report to Congress a week after the Federal Reserve announced a long-overdue pause in interest rate hikes. While the policy reprieve followed an unprecedented 10 consecutive interest rate increases that left behind significant economic damage, Chairman Powell tellingly described the decision as a temporary “skip” before correcting himself. Government watchdog Accountable.US called more interest rate hikes any time soon a recipe for a recession.
A matter of weeks is nowhere near enough time to heal the economic wounds opened by the Fed’s unprecedented rate hike streak. The Fed’s hawkish strategy has hindered manufacturing jobs and kept many Americans from buying new homes or cars – while doing little to contain the corporate profiteering epidemic squeezing consumers on necessities like food and shelter. Congress should treat with healthy skepticism any effort by the Fed Chair to defend the idea of ‘skipping’ back to the path of recession with even higher job-killing interest rates in the future.”
Liz Zelnick, Accountable.US’ Director of Economic Security and Corporate Power.
Not only has the Fed’s policy been economically risky, it’s been an ineffective cure to a top driver of inflation: corporate greed. A recent report from watchdog Accountable.US found many of the largest general consumer S&P 500 companies have admitted to benefiting from increased prices as their net profits increased year-over-year and they rewarded shareholders with billions in new shareholder handouts.
READ MORE FROM ACCOUNTABLE.US ON GREEDFLATION AND THE FEDERAL RESERVE
- Fed’s Overdue Interest Rate Pause Leaves Behind Economic Damage
- Analysis: These S&P 500 Companies Inflated Prices Despite Bigger Profits and Investor Handouts
- How the Fed’s rate hikes let corporate greed off the hook
- CBO Projects Layoffs and “Halt” in Economic Growth as Result of Fed’s Aggressive Interest Rate Hikes
- ICYMI: The Fed’s Own Economists Find Corporate Overcharging Is Driving Inflation, Yet Fed Officials Fixated On More Job-Killing Interest Rate Hikes
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