WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday the Federal Reserve's decision to lower interest rates was “an important signal” that inflation has eased as he poked at Donald Trump's economic policies as a failure in the past and sure to “fail again” if revived.
“Lowering interest rates isn’t a declaration of victory," Biden told the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. "It’s a declaration of progress, to signal we’ve entered a new phase of our economy and our recovery.”
The Democratic president emphasized that there was more work left to do, but he used his speech to burnish his economic legacy even as he criticized Trump, his Republican predecessor who is running for another term.
“Trickle down down economics failed," Biden said. "He's promising again trickle down economics. It will fail again.”
Biden said Trump wants to extend tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthy, costing an estimated $5 trillion, and implement tariffs that could raise prices by nearly $4,000 per family, something that Biden described as a “new sales tax.”
A spokesman for Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But Trump has routinely hammered Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate this year, over higher costs.
“People can’t go out and buy cereal or bacon or eggs or anything else," he said during last week's debate. “The people of our country are absolutely dying with what they've done. They've destroyed the economy.”
Biden dismissed Trump's claims that he supports workers, saying “give me a break.” His administration created more manufacturing jobs and spurred more factory construction, and it reduced the trade deficit with China.
Trump's economic record was undermined by the coronavirus outbreak, and Biden blamed him for botching the country's response.
“His failure in handling the pandemic led to hundreds of thousands of Americans dying,” he said.
Biden struggled to demonstrate economic progress because of inflation, which spread around the globe as the pandemic receded and supply chain problems multiplied.
He expressed hope that the rate cut will make it more affordable for Americans to buy houses and cars.
“I believe it's important for the country to recognize this progress,” he said. “Because if we don't, the progress we made will remain locked in the fear of a negative mindset that dominated our economic outlook since the pandemic began.”
He said businesses should see “the immense opportunities in front of us right now" by investing and expanding.
Biden defended the independence of the Federal Reserve, which could be threatened by Trump if he is elected to another term. Trump publicly pressured the central bank to lower rates during his presidency, a break with past customs.
“It would do enormous damage to our economy if that independence is ever lost," Biden said.
During his speech, Biden inaccurately said he had never met with Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, while he's been president.
Jared Bernstein, who chairs the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said at a subsequent briefing that Biden intended to say that he had never discussed interest rates with Powell.
“That’s what he meant," Bernstein said.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the Economic Club of Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is romping toward records Thursday as a delayed jubilation sweeps markets worldwide following the Federal Reserve’s big cut to interest rates.
The S&P 500 was up by 1.9% in late trading and above its all-time closing high set in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 580 points, or 1.4%, and on track to top its record set on Monday. The Nasdaq composite was 2.8% higher with an hour left in trading.
The rally was widespread, and the company behind Olive Garden and Ruth's Chris, Darden Restaurants, helped lead the way with a jump of 7.8%. It said sales trends have been improving since a sharp step down in July, and it announced a delivery partnership with Uber.
Nvidia, meanwhile, barreled 4.6% higher and was once again the strongest force lifting the S&P 500. Lower interest rates weaken criticism by a bit that its shares and those of other influential Big Tech companies look too expensive following the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology.
Wall Street's gains followed rallies for markets across Europe and Asia after the Federal Reserve delivered the first cut to interest rates in more than four years late on Wednesday.
It was a momentous move, closing the door on a run where the Fed kept its main interest rate at a two-decade high in hopes of slowing the U.S. economy enough to stamp out high inflation. Now that inflation has come down from its peak two summers ago, Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed can focus more on keeping the job market solid and the economy out of a recession.
Wall Street’s initial reaction to Wednesday’s cut was a yawn, after markets had already run up for months on expectations for coming reductions to rates. Stocks ended up edging lower after swinging a few times.
“Yet we come in today and have a reversal of the reversal,” said Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at BTIG. He said he did not anticipate such a big jump for stocks on Thursday.
Some analysts said the market could be relieved that the Fed’s Powell was able to thread the needle in his press conference and suggest the deeper-than-usual cut was just a “recalibration” of policy and not an urgent move it had to take to prevent a recession.
That bolstered hopes that the Federal Reserve can successfully walk its tightrope and get inflation down to its 2% target without a recession. So too did a couple reports on the economy released Thursday. One showed fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, another signal that layoffs across the country remain low.
The pressure is nevertheless still on the Fed because the job market and hiring have begun to slow under the weight of higher interest rates. Some critics say the central bank waited too long to cut rates and may have damaged the economy.
Powell, though, said Fed officials are not in “a rush to get this done” and would make decisions on policy at each successive meeting depending on what the incoming data says.
Some investment banks raised their forecasts for how much the Federal Reserve will ultimately cut interest rates, anticipating even deeper reductions than Fed officials. Forecasts released Wednesday show Fed officials expect to cut interest rates by potentially another half of a percentage point in 2024 and another full point in 2025. The federal funds rate is currently sitting in a range of 4.75% to 5%.
Lower interest rates help financial markets in two big ways. They ease the brakes off the economy by making it easier for U.S. households and businesses to borrow money, which can accelerate spending and investment. They also give a boost to prices of all kinds of investments, from gold to bonds to cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin rose above $63,500 Thursday, up from about $27,000 a year ago.
An adage suggests investors should not “fight the Fed” and instead ride the rising tide when the central bank is cutting interest rates. Wall Street was certainly doing that Thursday. But this economic cycle has continued to break conventional wisdoms after the COVID-19 pandemic created an instant recession that gave way to the worst inflation in generations.
Wall Street is worried that inflation could remain tougher to fully subdue than in the past. And while lower rates can help goose the economy, they can also give inflation more fuel.
The upcoming U.S. presidential election could also keep uncertainty reigning in the market. A fear is that both the Democrats and Republicans could push for policies that add to the U.S. government’s debt, which could keep upward pressure on interest rates regardless of the Fed’s moves.
History may also offer few clues about how things may progress given how unusual the conditions are. This looks to have higher expectations for rate cuts than past easing cycles, according to strategists at Bank of America.
The economic conditions of this cycle one may resemble 1995 a bit, but unfortunately “no great analogs exist,” the strategists led by Alex Cohen wrote in a BofA Global Research report.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 3.73% from 3.71% late Wednesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, fell to 3.60% from 3.63%.
In stock markets aboard, indexes jumped even more across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They rose 2.3% in France, 2.1% in Japan and 2% in Hong Kong.
The FTSE 100 climbed 0.9% in London after the Bank of England kept interest rates there on hold. The next big move for a central bank arrives Friday, when the Bank of Japan will announce its latest decision on interest rates.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Trader Michale Conlon, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's news conference appears on a television screen behind him, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The news conference of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appears on television screens on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Specialist Genaro Saporito, foreground, works with traders at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The news conference of Federal' Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appears on a screen as trader Neil Catania works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Leon Montana works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
