In Reply to: Re: PCE ticks up again inflation still a thing posted by confused442 on October 29, 2026 at 17:36:51
The fed under Biden was too slow to recognize that inflation wasn't temporary and they waited too long to raise rates. Overall I think the Fed did a good job absolutely, but they missed early on even they admitted so.
Deutsche Bank was one of many that said the Fed didn't want to raise rates close to the election.
Financial experts from institutions like Deutsche Bank and EY-Parthenon pointed out that, all else being equal, central banks generally prefer to avoid making aggressive policy shifts (like raising interest rates) days before an election where consumer affordability is a principal voter concern. Doing so risks thrusting the independent institution into a political crossfire.
If you follow Scott Galloway, he's been very outspoken about the Fed being slow to react, again, and openly said that not raising rates was in his opinion because of the midterms.
Justin Wolfers the Australian economist said the same thing, while you can somewhat understand not wanting to overreact to an "energy shock" that in the end it's about the midterms
Puzzling Delay: Wolfers points out that with major inflation gauges running hot between 3% and 4% (well above the Fed's 2% target) and the market pricing in an 85% chance of a rate hike, holding steady is economically confusing. He argues that the decision to delay the "monetary medicine" until the next meeting—which conveniently falls right after the election—looks highly political.
There are many more experts saying the same thing. Yahoo Finance had multiple articles on it today alone.