For the first time in more than four years, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate. But Northeastern University economist Bob Triest says to focus on the Fed’s long-term outlook — not just the 0.5 percentage point cut announced today — to gauge the impact of rate cuts on the economy.
“In terms of the impact on the real economy, (whether it is a 0.5 percentage point or a 0.25 percentage point cut today) likely doesn’t really matter a lot,” says Triest, professor of economics at Northeastern. “What’s most important is how much they plan to cut all together by the end of the year and how much they expect to continue cutting going into 2025,” he says.
