"Fed Mouthpiece": Fed meeting minutes show differences in the extent of September rate cuts

BlockBeats news, October 10, "Fed mouthpiece" Nick Timiraos said that at last month's meeting, Fed officials were divided on the issue of the extent of the rate cut, with the vast majority supporting the larger 50 basis point rate cut that was eventually approved, but others supporting a smaller 25 basis point rate cut. The just-released minutes of the meeting unveiled the discussion about why officials chose to start the first rate cut since 2020 with a bolder 50 basis points. The decision to cut interest rates to a range of 4.75% to 5% was supported by 11 of the 12 members of the Fed's rate-setting committee. 

One policymaker opposed the decision and supported a smaller cut. The minutes said those who supported a larger rate cut "generally believed that this readjustment of the monetary policy stance would begin to better align it with recent inflation and labor market indicators." Some of these officials argued that a 25 basis point rate cut was "reasonable" at the last meeting in late July, and that recent data simply confirmed the case for the cut.