On Sunday, billionaire Elon Musk stated that the Federal Reserve must reduce interest rates and that it would be foolish for it not to have done so already. Musk’s comment, which was made in response to a post on the social media site X, came in the wake of a string of weak data over the past week that has raised concerns that the Federal Reserve may have left interest rates too high for too long, harming the economy.
Last week, policymakers kept the benchmark overnight interest rate at 5.25 percent-5.50 percent, but they opened the door to a rate cut at their meeting on September 17-18. Merchants are wagering a slice is practically 100% to occur at that gathering.
On Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that if the U.S. economy continues on its expected path, the central bank could cut rates next month. This puts the central bank close to the end of a battle against inflation that lasted more than two years and puts it right in the middle of the country’s presidential election campaign.
