Jerome Powell

Bonds and stocks are rallying ahead of a critical Fed meeting. But this time, the central question for Chair Jerome Powell is which approach — reducing rates by 25 basis points or 50 basis points.

After holding at its last meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee may decide to raise rates again in July.

Many believe the Federal Reserve will slow down rate increases beginning in December.. Steve Friedman, senior macroeconomist at MacKay Shields, will join us the day after the meeting to discuss what was done and what he expects in the future.

The White House’s ambition to bring new oversight to the banking industry and reverse Trump-era deregulation was dealt a blow when Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he would oppose Sarah Bloom Raskin's nomination as the Federal Reserve's vice chair of supervision.

Senate Democrats insist the GOP's boycott of President Biden's picks for the Federal Reserve is interfering with the central bank's handling of an economic crisis. But GOP lawmakers say the Fed is functioning fine and their concerns about nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin are material.

No one liked it when interest interest rates hit 21% in the early 1980s, but the actions of the Federal Reserve under Paul Volcker helped save the U.S. economy from true catastrophe. That kind of leadership is lacking in today’s Washington.

The Federal Reserve has been circumspect about whether it will issue its own digital currency. Observers are looking to an upcoming report by the central bank for clarity about its intentions and how a digital dollar would work with private stablecoins.

The Biden administration will soon face tough decisions on whether to renominate Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair and whom to select for vice chair of supervision and other posts.

As the Federal Reserve mulls the idea of issuing a digital currency, some industry representatives are already sounding the alarm. Their main concern is a new regime for storing cash will reduce demand for bank deposits.

While federal regulators attempt to overhaul the Community Reinvestment Act for banks, Congress has shown little interest in applying it to other lenders. But recent moves in Illinois and New York have given some stakeholders hope that state lawmakers will pick up the slack.