Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced on Wednesday that interest rates will remain unchanged and could stay there for some time to come: the Fed is predicting no other rate changes on the horizon in 2020, signaling that 2019’s three rate cuts brought the U.S. to a stable place.
Today’s announcement that the rate will remain at the 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent range marks the Fed’s final monetary policy decision for 2019.
The Fed cut rates this year by a quarter of a point three times since July. Powell said on Wednesday the earlier cuts helped keep the U.S. economy on track and assuming incoming data holds up, the current policy stance will “likely” remain appropriate.
“It’s been very challenging to get inflation to be at target … But I think we’re using our tools as best we can to meet that challenge.”
Previous interest cuts were seen as protecting the U.S. economy from negative fallout from the U.S. trade war with China and slow global growth. Powell signaled the cuts were successful and said: “our economic outlook remains a favorable one despite global developments and ongoing risks.”
When asked by a reporter why the Fed has dropped its previous caveat from October that noted “uncertainties about this outlook remain,” Powell responded “we’ve put now in place policies that we think are appropriate to address [global developments and muted inflation pressures.]”
Looking forward, Powell indicated that with a strong household sector, the Fed expects economic growth to continue and said if the proposed USMCA deal is enacted, it would remove some uncertainty and be positive for the U.S. economy.
At the beginning of Wednesday’s press conference, Powell paid homage to former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, who died this week, saying “what is perhaps most admirable about him was his character.”
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
