America, this isn’t how you lower interest rates
If US officials really want to get interest rates down, they have superior options – including discarding policies that push in the wrong direction
Add BT as a preferred source
THE US’ leaders have latched onto the idea that they can address some big problems – most notably a gaping budget deficit – by forcing interest rates downward.
If only it were that easy.
US President Donald Trump keeps turning up the pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower short-term rates, publicly expressing his dissatisfaction with chair Jerome Powell. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wants to reduce longer-term rates by issuing less long-term US debt. Financial regulators are tweaking capital requirements, encouraging the largest US banks to buy and hold more Treasury securities, which would push prices up and yields down.
TRENDING NOW
CSE Global independent director quits after clashes with chairman Eugene Lai over board refresh
What’s wrong with Orchard Road? Experts weigh in on the street’s cachet and its future
‘I felt like dying’: Thai Singha beer scion speaks up after disclosure of alleged sexual abuse
Rare brutalist Singapore house opens to the public before changing hands
