Expert insight
A new day for Federal Reserve policy
September 19, 2024
The Federal Reserve’s target for short-term interest rates essentially sets the minimum level of borrowing costs in the United States. On September 18, the Fed reduced its interest rate target for the first time in more than four years. The 0.5 percentage point reduction made the Fed’s new target a range of 4.75–5.00%.
Vanguard’s global chief economist, Joe Davis, and head of fixed income credit, Chris Alwine, explain the meaning of the central bank’s policy shift.


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Video length: 1 minute 59 seconds
Read the transcript
Joe Davis: It felt like a long time coming, right, Chris? We’re talking about a Federal Reserve that's begun an easing process. I think it's, you know, it's welcome news. I mean, we've had, for two years, inflation coming down, really stubborn for a long period of time.
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