7 ms·

Statement from Federal Reserve Chair

180 points by nikhizzle 8mo ago

gnabgib 8mo ago
Discussion (676 points, 14 hours ago, 590 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46582420 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46582420
andrewmcwatters 8mo ago
[dead]
robinsoncrusue 8mo ago
While this entire spectacle is just nauseating, I am not going to shed a tear for Jerome Powell. This is a man that headed one of the most incompetent bunch in my lifetime. I remember the whole 2020/1 euphoria where things were just supposed to be "transitory" according to multiple Fed minutes. Lo and behold, until it was not. They had to tighten FAST, lot of layoffs happened because of that. You could argue the software industry never really recovered, AI is just a cope. Reality is, these institutions have failed for a long time. It gave me a chuckle when I read the line "maximum unemployment and price stability". The official fed numbers for those are way off, you tell Americans spending >50% on their groceries compared to 2-3yrs ago that the inflation is 4%. Or unemployment rates for that matter. All the numbers are garbage, nothing means anything anymore. If congress and Fed had a spine to enforce meritocracy, Jerome and all the "transitory" shenanigans would have been out long ago. And so there you have it. Officials with 10 years terms with zero accountability for their decisions with revolving doors to follow having big bucks consulting gigs for big banks awaiting moment they retire will say and do anything to preserve the self-serving institutions. Not its mandate. And cherry on top, if they are lucky to play out well, on their way out will get the glory of "serving the people and protecting the institutions".
- gruez 8mo ago
  >The official fed numbers for those are way off, you tell Americans spending >50% on their groceries compared to 2-3yrs ago the inflation is 4%. Or unemployment rates for that matter. All the numbers are garbage, nothing means anything anymore. Where are your numbers that disprove the fed's numbers?
  - aisengard 8mo ago
    Don't you know, this is a vibes-based economy now? Numbers are meaningless when compared to feelings.
  - jghn 8mo ago
    It's what Fox News says, so it must be true
    - frenchtoast8 8mo ago
      Is Fox News actually saying that inflation and unemployment is higher? I thought the Trump Administration is claiming the opposite?
  - frenchtoast8 8mo ago
    Not the person you're replying to, but I wonder what the true unemployment rate is when you exclude people who are doing gig work temporarily after they have been laid off from their career job.
    - gruez 8mo ago
      >but I wonder what the true unemployment rate is when you exclude people who are doing gig work temporarily after they have been laid off from their career job. That would presumably show up in personal/household income figures, but everything looks normal: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N
  - thoughtstheseus 8mo ago
    They’re the wrong numbers and people misunderstand the numbers. The consumption basket for CPI (food) is determined by consumption surveys. Not desire or historical consumption. You can have less and lower quality food with a rising spend on food. For example, food away from home is down. People cannot afford to go out to eat as much. Rather than reflect the higher cost of going out to eat, the consumption basket reduces the proportion of food away from home. There are also hard limits on food spending. People have limited money. Instead what you seeing is a continued increase in SNAP and record food bank usage. Make no mistake. The young family or median person is worse off with food security today despite spending more.
- CyanLite2 8mo ago
  Powell is only the chair, there's still 11 other goons on the board that votes to set policy.
- pvab3 8mo ago
  Are you mad that they didn't raise the federal funds rate sooner? And do you not understand how the CPI is calculated? One of the major reasons that software was hit hard is that it grew accustomed to 10 years of insanely low interest rates that for some reason didn't cause inflation, and then when things started returning to historical averages, it couldn't continue in the same way.
axus 8mo ago
Powell won't be in control 4 months and 4 days from now. What is the benefit to Trump administration to taking control a few months earlier? Trump seems to be in a big hurry.
- gruez 8mo ago
  Revenge? Same with going after Comey even though he was out of government for the better part of a decade.
  - spwa4 8mo ago
    I thought Trump was of the opinion that "official acts", which is apparently anything anyone does while employed by the government, cannot result in criminal prosecutions. Or at least, that's what he claims for himself and ICE murderers.
    - gruez 8mo ago
      Not sure about "ICE murderers", but Trump v. United States[1] only seems to cover presidents, and wikipedia even has a specific article for for it[2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_v._United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_v._United_States [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_immunity_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_immunity_in_the_U...
      - spwa4 8mo ago
        You saw JD Vance's press conference? A Yale educated lawyer, because that's what this asshole is, saying a federal agent has full immunity in the context of being investigated for murder. I wonder what his opinion would be on what happens if a Federal agent shot Trump. But let's not pretend the current administration believes one word they're saying.
- Spartan-S63 8mo ago
  He won't be chair, but he'll still be a governor. I think the attempt is to get rid of him in both positions early and for good.

180 points by nikhizzle 8mo ago

Discussion (676 points, 14 hours ago, 590 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46582420 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46582420

andrewmcwatters 8mo ago

[dead]

robinsoncrusue 8mo ago

While this entire spectacle is just nauseating, I am not going to shed a tear for Jerome Powell. This is a man that headed one of the most incompetent bunch in my lifetime. I remember the whole 2020/1 euphoria where things were just supposed to be "transitory" according to multiple Fed minutes. Lo and behold, until it was not. They had to tighten FAST, lot of layoffs happened because of that. You could argue the software industry never really recovered, AI is just a cope. Reality is, these institutions have failed for a long time. It gave me a chuckle when I read the line "maximum unemployment and price stability". The official fed numbers for those are way off, you tell Americans spending >50% on their groceries compared to 2-3yrs ago that the inflation is 4%. Or unemployment rates for that matter. All the numbers are garbage, nothing means anything anymore. If congress and Fed had a spine to enforce meritocracy, Jerome and all the "transitory" shenanigans would have been out long ago. And so there you have it. Officials with 10 years terms with zero accountability for their decisions with revolving doors to follow having big bucks consulting gigs for big banks awaiting moment they retire will say and do anything to preserve the self-serving institutions. Not its mandate. And cherry on top, if they are lucky to play out well, on their way out will get the glory of "serving the people and protecting the institutions".

gruez 8mo ago
>The official fed numbers for those are way off, you tell Americans spending >50% on their groceries compared to 2-3yrs ago the inflation is 4%. Or unemployment rates for that matter. All the numbers are garbage, nothing means anything anymore. Where are your numbers that disprove the fed's numbers?
- aisengard 8mo ago
  Don't you know, this is a vibes-based economy now? Numbers are meaningless when compared to feelings.
- jghn 8mo ago
  It's what Fox News says, so it must be true
  - frenchtoast8 8mo ago
    Is Fox News actually saying that inflation and unemployment is higher? I thought the Trump Administration is claiming the opposite?
- frenchtoast8 8mo ago
  Not the person you're replying to, but I wonder what the true unemployment rate is when you exclude people who are doing gig work temporarily after they have been laid off from their career job.
  - gruez 8mo ago
    >but I wonder what the true unemployment rate is when you exclude people who are doing gig work temporarily after they have been laid off from their career job. That would presumably show up in personal/household income figures, but everything looks normal: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N
- thoughtstheseus 8mo ago
  They’re the wrong numbers and people misunderstand the numbers. The consumption basket for CPI (food) is determined by consumption surveys. Not desire or historical consumption. You can have less and lower quality food with a rising spend on food. For example, food away from home is down. People cannot afford to go out to eat as much. Rather than reflect the higher cost of going out to eat, the consumption basket reduces the proportion of food away from home. There are also hard limits on food spending. People have limited money. Instead what you seeing is a continued increase in SNAP and record food bank usage. Make no mistake. The young family or median person is worse off with food security today despite spending more.
CyanLite2 8mo ago
Powell is only the chair, there's still 11 other goons on the board that votes to set policy.
pvab3 8mo ago
Are you mad that they didn't raise the federal funds rate sooner? And do you not understand how the CPI is calculated? One of the major reasons that software was hit hard is that it grew accustomed to 10 years of insanely low interest rates that for some reason didn't cause inflation, and then when things started returning to historical averages, it couldn't continue in the same way.

axus 8mo ago

Powell won't be in control 4 months and 4 days from now. What is the benefit to Trump administration to taking control a few months earlier? Trump seems to be in a big hurry.

gruez 8mo ago
Revenge? Same with going after Comey even though he was out of government for the better part of a decade.
- spwa4 8mo ago
  I thought Trump was of the opinion that "official acts", which is apparently anything anyone does while employed by the government, cannot result in criminal prosecutions. Or at least, that's what he claims for himself and ICE murderers.
  - gruez 8mo ago
    Not sure about "ICE murderers", but Trump v. United States[1] only seems to cover presidents, and wikipedia even has a specific article for for it[2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_v._United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_v._United_States [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_immunity_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_immunity_in_the_U...
    - spwa4 8mo ago
      You saw JD Vance's press conference? A Yale educated lawyer, because that's what this asshole is, saying a federal agent has full immunity in the context of being investigated for murder. I wonder what his opinion would be on what happens if a Federal agent shot Trump. But let's not pretend the current administration believes one word they're saying.
Spartan-S63 8mo ago
He won't be chair, but he'll still be a governor. I think the attempt is to get rid of him in both positions early and for good.