Donald Trump Has Already Gotten the Interest Rate Cut He Wants

NOTE: Shortly after I wrote this post, the Fed cut rates by half a point. Sometimes whining works.

Donald Trump is whining on Twitter yet again that the Federal Reserve is keeping short-term interest rates too high. He’s been beating this drum for a while, so obviously it has nothing to do with the coronavirus. It’s solely because Trump wants the economy to be as strong as possible while he’s seeking reelection.

Putting that aside, it would probably be a good idea for the Fed to loosen a bit anyway. It’s low-risk insurance. At the same time, the thing we (and Trump) should really care about is long-term interest rates, since that’s what affects economic growth the most. In fact, the primary purpose of lowering short-term interest rates—which the Fed controls—is to nudge down long-term rates—which the Fed doesn’t control. But as it turns out, that’s already happened:

Over the past year long-term rates have gone down about 1.5 points. In just the last month they’ve gone down half a point. They are currently at levels below anything Barack Obama enjoyed.

I doubt that Trump knows this, but he’s already gotten the benefit of a huge reduction in the interest rates that really matter. He should quit griping.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate