Powell Says That the Fed Isn’t Getting Closer to Cutting Rates
Prices continued to rise at an uncomfortably fast pace in February—fast enough to keep any rate cuts from the Federal Reserve on hold.
The Department of Commerce reported a monthly gain of 0.3 percent in February’s personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index. That annualizes to a 4.1 percent gain, far higher than the two percent the Fed targets.
A few months ago, many Democrat-leaning pundits and economists were pointing to the three-month annualized figure for PCE prices as indicating that inflation had been defeated and that the Fed could safely start cutting rates. Back in September, for example, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman tweeted “Still no recession, but core PCE down to 2.2% on a three-month basis. Team Long Transitory for the win.”
That has not aged well. The most recent…
