Smarten Up About The Economy

WAMU 88.5

Published July 30, 2019 at 10:06 AM EDT

Traders work after the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on July 29, 2019 located at Wall Street in New York City. Wall Street stocks were mostly lower early Monday at the start of a week jammed with news, including a Federal Reserve decision and Apple results.

It’s extremely likely that the Federal Reserve will decide to lower interest rates this year.

Lost already? Yup, us too. Here’s more about how the cut might affect you, per Gizmodo’s Lifehacker:

When the Fed cuts interest rates, it usually means it’ll cost less to borrow money—whether you’re applying for a new credit card or taking out a mortgage.

However, interest rate cuts aren’t typically associated with a growing economy. As Ann Saphir at Reuters reminds us, the last time the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates was during “the depths of the financial crisis more than a decade ago.”

So what’s behind the Fed’s choice? Does the American economy need the support of an interest rate cut?

We’ll also talk about the budget bill that passed the House last week.

A quick summary from The Washington Post:

Supporters called the legislation a signal product of divided government, a compromise with something for everyone to love or hate. Democrats touted increases in domestic spending; Republicans pointed to growth in the Pentagon budget.

And lawmakers in both parties applauded the deal for ratcheting down the budget brinkmanship that characterized the first years of the Trump administration and led to the nation’s longest government shutdown over 35 days this past winter. Facing warnings that the Treasury Department could run out of money to pay its bills as early as September, lawmakers voted to suspend the nation’s borrowing limit until July 31, 2021, removing the threat of a catastrophic, first-ever default.

But conservative Republicans expressed opposition to the deal because it increases spending by $320 billion over existing law and suspends the debt ceiling without doing anything to rein in the spiraling deficit and debt.

President Trump is expected to sign the bill, which still needs to be considered by the Senate.

We break down the latest economic news and answer your questions about what’s ahead.

GUESTS

Nela Richardson, Investment strategist, Edward Jones; @NelaRichardson

Jeanna Smialek, Federal Reserves and Economy reporter, the New York Times; @jeannasmialek

Tibor Besedes, Associate Professor of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Marc Goldwein, Senior Vice President and Senior Policy Director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. @MarcGoldwein

For more, visit https://the1a.org.