covering the Fed for @business. formerly @washingtonpost and @wsj DC via ATL & MCO
Washington, DC
Joined October 2007
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As fall sets in across the country, the bill is coming due for the hottest summer on record in the United States. The last three months were about three degrees above average, hotter than the Dust Bowl summer of 1936 and the heat dome of 2021. nytimes.com/2026/10/18/us/ok…
The Fed is likely to leave interest rates unchanged next week, a few days before the mid-term elections, but even the chief WH economic adviser acknowledges inflation is "needing some work."
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Andrew Ackerman retweeted
Read more, including more about Memphis, in this extensive @wapo series published last year: washingtonpost.com/business/…
Increasingly, people are hit by cars on roads designed like Union Avenue in Memphis, Tenn.—one of the most dangerous roads in America. All while this type of roadway continues to spread across the country. on.wsj.com/4zDI9TE
Andrew Ackerman retweeted
The symbolism of Bessent not showing up to chair a G20 Ministerial and forgoing a major gathering in Asia when China’s regional economic presence is ever larger is not a good look for the US.
Some impressions from the Bank-Fund meetings in Bangkok:
1. The words are all negative but the numbers are all positive. Is all about unprecedented waves of shocks and risks while the IMF upgraded the forecast to something even stronger.
2. No one cares about tariffs anymore, they expect them to continue forever and have adjusted and moved on.
3. Everyone cares a lot about high interest rates. They expect them to continue forever but they haven't moved on.
4. Oil prices fall somewhere between these two. Everyone cares some, aren't sure if they'll continue and have partially moved on.
5. Everyone is having exactly the same conversations about AI as they are having here: will the demand boost continue, is it a bubble, will it kill jobs, when will it show up in productivity. I sensed much more optimism than pessimism and finance ministers and central bankers are not particuarly interested in p(doom).
6. No one seemed to mind that Scott Bessent didn't bother to attend.
The federal government’s three biggest outlays — Social Security, Medicare and debt service — all now above $1 trillion.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Another takeaway is how upbeat Warsh was about the Fed and its staff -- an unexpected twist in tone after years of acerbic criticism and a promise of “regime change.” He praised the talent of the Fed’s staff. “They’re as proud as I am to say, ‘I work at the Federal Reserve.’”
Not a lot of news in Warsh's remarks in Bangkok, outside of a field hearing next month in the SF area. Nothing to disabuse markets anticipating a hold at the Fed's Oct 27-28 meeting.
Andrew Ackerman retweeted
Federal judge rejects @CFTC and @Gemini ‘s unusual joint request from May to undo a January 2025 $5 million settlement negotiated in the waning days of the Biden administration. On @TheTerminal.
Autonomous cars do not seem likely to displace many jobs any time soon and perhaps DC residents would enjoy having a choice for whatever reason.
(Could think of a few groups of people who might feel safer in a Waymo than an Uber late at night, for example.)
Andrew Ackerman retweeted
One stat from today's hot inflation data: toy prices in September jumped by the most on record on a monthly basis, and the most since 1988 on year. Our piece on what it all means for the Federal Reserve and interest rates
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
More interesting q perhaps is policy. OCC references in press release a "mandate" for fair access for everyone. Assume progressives would support that, but banks would want to preserve discretion to shut accounts.
Not denying folks have been debanked, but I'm not sure there is evidence of industries being systematically shut off from the system. Anecdotes in report also seem to show banks not wanting to deal with negative headlines -- reputation risk regulators already addressed.
Leadership on a nonexistent problem.
Thank you @POTUS, @SecScottBessent, and @USComptroller for your work to end unlawful debanking practices and protect Americans' financial freedom. No longer will Americans be punished for embracing financial innovation or denied access to the system for exercising their right to choose how they manage their money.
So much for a slow down in core CPI, which rose at an annual pace of 2.6%. That's hotter than the 2.4% reported in August.
The headline y/o/y figure -- 3.7% -- also shows an acceleration from August.
NYFed chief John Williams said he still sees one more interest-rate hike as appropriate this year, but at the moment doesn’t believe it will be necessary for the central bank to increase rates again in 2027. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
swear i typed "de novos" but whatever
There's good arguments for tailoring rules around smaller community banks but complaining about the lack of de dovos without mentioning the rise of fintechs that do bank-like activities without bank-like rules is kind of a big omission, no? wapo.st/3TO5zqo
There's good arguments for tailoring rules around smaller community banks but complaining about the lack of de dovos without mentioning the rise of fintechs that do bank-like activities without bank-like rules is kind of a big omission, no? wapo.st/3TO5zqo
Happy 49th anniversary to the Community Reinvestment Act... signed into law by President Carter OTD in 1977.
(Comments are due on the latest proposed revisions from the FDIC/OCC)
federalreserve.gov/consumers…
