Fed Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged

The greater risk is the continuing "hollowing out" of the middle class as a consequence of poor wage growth; 3% wow! That is nothing compared to the massive increases in CEO "wages" and corporate profits. When the ratio of CEO:avg worker income is measured in multiples of 100 (indeed, in some cases close to 1,000) in contrast to 30-35 when the average wage would actually support a "middle class" life style, something is amiss; this does not even take into account 30-40yrs of essentially no wage growth. Capitalism has morphed to corporate greed. Numerous writers have noted that the strength of a society, particularly a democracy, is its middle class; America is not immune to this. The wealth inequality must be addressed if we are not to lose our middle class with consequent societal disruption. The Fed and Congress should look for policies that will moderate inflation, provide for strong employment AND facilitate real wage growth.

We are at a point where the rates are just the rates and their effect, probably not as much as the Fed, the President, and the obedient media suggest, is secondary to worldwide issues. The chairman claims to be saving ammunition, but when he uses it (before the election?) it will be too late with too little. Corona is the black swan now, but there will be others.

Low interest rates are tough on vulnerable households. In a world of ultra-low rates, most households have no hope of wealth accumulation, no matter how much they save.

I cannot improve my economic status when banks pay almost nothing for savings acconts, and then charge so much to buy with a credit card. The point spread is 1.75% versus 24.9% or higher. The national financial system only benefits business, but this country is intended to benefit all citizens, not just the rich as it increasingly does. They own everything, including our rule makers, and that is neither democracy or freedom. A fair income tax, like was envisioned, and estate taxes to break up concentrations of wealth is what we had and when the rich did away with it, we bought instead a series of mediocre presidents culminating in Donald John Trump. If this is what is considered "progress", then I'm a reactionary. Flint's water disaster is what you get with Republican Anarchy - what Trump calls "Great" - and dependence upon the largesse of the rich to have parks. Can we overcome the damage they are doing and will continue to do to our liberty and rights to life, and happiness? Not if we won't changes and rein in our national greed and rediscover patriotism. And that cannot happen with Trump or any Republican president or a majority of Republican Senators.

Every time the Fed lowers its rates Trump pays millions less on his debts.

The addiction to cheap money is going to be extraordinarily painful during the next actual downturn. This bull has run so long that there is a ton of excessive valuations to deflate. Looks fine now, but the hangover is going to be painful.

And therein lies the rub of the "Trump Miracle" his supporters claim, how the US has really low unemployment. The reason inflation isn't higher is simple, wage increases across the board, except for the top .5%, have been meager (at my company,the target raise was less than 2%). Inflation happens when workers get higher wages and demand for goods and services increases, without higher wages inflation isn't going to happen because demand won't grow. There is one exception, of course, the stock market, that is hitting record highs. Why? Companies profits are high, their revenue is increasing, their profits even moreso, and stock analysts reward this with higher stock ratings. The problem is that stock analysts hate seeing wages rise and because these days all companies are driven by the same analysts, despite the 'tight labor market' few companies are translating better results into higher wages, and even changing jobs increases are either small or non existent. The stockholder management has created a de facto oligarchy of businesses, the stock market makes business decisions for most companies, and the stock market wants workers pay to stay either the same or decline.

“ The central bank did nudge up the interest rates it pays on excess reserves — essentially bank deposits that are stashed at the Fed.” Does anyone know if this is likely to translate to slightly higher interest rates on savings/CD’s for us average folks?