Fed Wants More Layoffs

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee has held rates steady, and included a statement that they do not see a reason to lower rates in the near future.

The reality is that, notwithstanding all their rhetoric about engineering a soft landing, the Fed is waging a war on the average working American:

The Federal Reserve signaled it was thinking about when to lower interest rates but hinted a cut wasn’t imminent when it held rates steady at its first policy meeting of the year on Wednesday.

The central bank held its benchmark federal-funds rate steady in a range between 5.25% and 5.5%, the highest level in more than two decades, as it awaits more convincing evidence that a sharp downturn in inflation at the end of last year will endure. 

“It’s a highly consequential decision to start the process” of lowering interest rates “and we want to get that right,” said Fed Chair Jerome Powell at a news conference. “We’ve made a lot of progress on inflation. We just want to make sure that we do get the job done in a sustainable way.”

………

The Fed jettisoned guidance in its heavily deliberated policy statement that since July, when officials last raised rates, has suggested it was more likely to raise rates than to lower them. In its place, officials adopted a neutral view by noting that the risks to achieving its goals of healthy labor markets and low inflation “are moving into better balance.”

The Fed doesn’t expect to lower rates “until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%,” the statement said.

It should be noted here that but for the inclusion of imputed rent, a metric that is the exception and not the rule most other developed economies  is ALREADY below 2%.

………

Inflation excluding volatile food and energy prices fell to 2.9% in December from a year earlier, using the Fed’s preferred gauge. The six-month annualized inflation rate fell below 1.9% during the second half of the year, down from 4% in the first half.

So inflation is already running below 2% in the past ½ year.  Mission fucking accomplished, you sado-monetarist bastards.

Also, if you want to lower inflation using your current skewed numbers, then go after the private equity and hedge fund crooks who are trying to monopolize the rental market in various metropolitan areas across the country.

They are the epitome of what John Maynard Keynes called, "Destructive capital flows," though he was talking about international speculation, and not intranational investment.