For the first time since Donald Trump returned to the White House, it seems that the Federal Reserve will do what he wants. “Jerome ‘too late’ Powell must now lower the rate,” wrote the president on August 12th after the latest release of consumer-price data, in his umpteenth variation on this theme. Ten days later Mr Powell, the Fed’s chair, hinted strongly to an annual gathering of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that an interest-rate cut was indeed coming. Now traders think one is a racing certainty when the monetary-policy committee next meets on September 16th and 17th. The only debate is whether the Fed’s rate, currently between 4.25% and 4.5%, will fall by 0.25 percentage points or 0.5.
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