Inflation Looms as Biden Faces Election, Despite Fed Interest Rates

ELECTIONS Experts predict inflation election trouble for Biden: 'Too late' to fix

Current interest rates unlikely to solve inflation problem

• Inflation currently sits at 3.3% year over year, according to Department of Labor statistics.
• The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced it would maintain the federal funds rate range at 5.25% to 5.5%, where rates have held steady since last July.
• Economist Peter Morici said the report was "certainly good news" for Biden, but noted that "prices are still up, and it's only one report."

Federal Reserve maintains interest rates at current levels in face of stubbornly high inflation

• The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced it would maintain the federal funds rate range at 5.25% to 5.5%, where rates have held steady since last July.
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the report builds confidence that inflation is moving toward the 2% target, but he also said more evidence is needed before the central bank begins easing policy.
• Economist Joseph LaVorgna said he didn't think inflation was going to come down, but he also said, prior to the report, that the Fed "doesn't want a quick reaction."

Biden's economic policies blamed for inflation

• Economist Peter Morici said the report was "certainly good news" for Biden, but noted that "prices are still up, and it's only one report."
• Economist Joseph LaVorgna said he didn't think inflation was going to come down, but he also said, prior to the report, that the Fed "doesn't want a quick reaction."
• Dr. Arthur Laffer, an economist who served in both the Reagan and Trump administrations, said he couldn't predict how the economy and inflation would affect the overall results of the upcoming election, but he argued the Biden administration had broken the major "kingdoms" of economics.