To no one’s surprise, the Federal Open Market Committee did not cut interest rates on Wednesday. But while the Fed held steady, pressure from the White House to ease policy intensified further. Anticipating that the Fed would stand pat, President Trump escalated his criticism of the central bank, calling Chairman Jerome Powell a “stupid person.” The President’s call for a sharp two-percentage-point cut in the Federal Funds rate — from the current 4.25% - 4.50% range to around 2.25% — would have served two of his objectives. First, Trump may have hoped that the inflationary impact of the tariffs he has imposed since ... (full story)