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Fed’s Bostic Keeping ‘Options Open’ for December Rate Decision

(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said he’s undecided on whether an interest-rate cut is needed this month, but still believes officials should continue lowering rates over the coming months.Most Read from BloombergRiyadh Metro Partially Opens in Bid to Ease City’s Traffic JamsAs Wars Rage, Cities Face a Dark New Era of Urban Destruction“The risks to achieving the committee’s dual mandates of maximum employment and price stability have shifted such that they

Fed's Bostic: Base case remains for inflation to continue falling

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said on Monday he has an open mind about whether to cut interest rates again at the Fed's December meeting, with upcoming data on jobs important in shaping the decision. "There is a lot of uncertainty," Bostic said in comments to reporters. In an essay also released on Monday, Bostic said his base case remains that inflation will continue to fall to the Fed's 2% target, though it remains an open question how far and how fast interest rates should be reduced to ensure that happens while avoiding any undue damage to the job market.

Trump's low oil price promise is a risk and a boon for emerging markets

Donald Trump has promised to "drill, baby, drill" to halve energy costs, a plan that sends shivers through the governments of emerging market oil producers anxious about dollar earnings and fills poorer importing countries with hope. In practical terms, Trump, the incoming president of the world's biggest oil producer, cannot fully control prices. The United States has limited influence over producer group OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, and it does not have a state oil company Trump can order to increase output.

Fed's Powell may have made US monetary policy boring again

For much of the past 17 years the Federal Reserve has been the central player in U.S. economic policy, throwing multi-trillion-dollar safety nets under the financial system, offering nearly a decade of ultra-cheap money, jumping redlines during the COVID-19 pandemic, and delving more into areas like equity and climate change. But that expansive role has now shrunk to one of terse policy statements, a meat-and-potatoes debate over interest rates, a declining stash of bonds, and a growing possibility that Fed Chair Jerome Powell may be remembered both as the man who got the U.S. through the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic and the one who made central banking boring again. Former St. Louis Fed President James Bullard was on the policymaking team that saw the central bank's role expand during the 2007-2009 financial crisis, watched as it mushroomed again during the pandemic and sees it now morphing back into something more normal.

Lula Ignores Aides and Sparks Market Rout That Threatens Economy

(Bloomberg) -- The dangers were crystal clear. Top economic aides to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had pointed them out to him again and again: Any moves to water down the fiscal-austerity plan in the works will spark a selloff — another selloff — across Brazilian financial markets.Most Read from BloombergRiyadh Metro Partially Opens in Bid to Ease City’s Traffic JamsAs Wars Rage, Cities Face a Dark New Era of Urban DestructionAnd yet, Lula decided he did not care. He ordered his staff to

Nations Fail to Agree Plastic Curbs as Oil Producers Dissent

(Bloomberg) -- Nations failed to agree on a treaty to curb plastic pollution after two years of divisive negotiations, as oil suppliers including Saudi Arabia and Russia blocked attempts to limit production.Most Read from BloombergRiyadh Metro Partially Opens in Bid to Ease City’s Traffic JamsAs Wars Rage, Cities Face a Dark New Era of Urban DestructionAlmost 200 countries joined a week-long United Nations-backed summit in Busan, South Korea, which concluded in the early hours of Monday without