Fed Chair Jerome Powell got quite the surprise on Wednesday morning.
While he was testifying before the House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee, Rep. Juan Vargas told him bluntly…
“You’re pretty boring here, to be frank.”
But Vargas wasn’t yawning or checking his watch as he said it. In fact, he wasn’t really talking about Powell at all.
He was making a point about the U.S. economy.
If the economy were struggling, Vargas said, hordes of media members would’ve flocked to Capitol Hill and listened closely to Powell’s every word, like vultures circling their prey.
But only a few media attended the hearing, which Vargas took as a sign of a boring, stable economy.
Powell agreed that the economy has been strong, citing steady GDP growth, inflation hovering near its lowest level in over three years, and unemployment remaining near 55-year lows despite a slight uptick in June.
(To watch the full exchange between Powell and Vargas, click here.)
All of this underscores a point that Chief Income Strategist Marc Lichtenfeld has been making for quite a while now: Powell and Co. are not going to cut interest rates until they see clear signs of an economic slowdown, as cutting rates too soon would risk reigniting inflation.
With Powell back in the news this week, I wanted to send you the highlights from one of Marc’s live video sessions about the Fed’s long-term interest rate plan.
The session was held in The Oxford Clubroom (our livestreaming platform) a few months ago, but I still encourage you to check it out. It contains some valuable information that could be a big help to conservative investors.
Just click the image above to watch.