As expected, the Federal Reserve kicked its key interest rate up a quarter-point, to a range of 0.75 percent to 1 percent to prevent the U.S. economy from growing too quickly.
Investors approved, sending the stock market higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 20,950, up 54 percent, or 112.73 points for the day.
How the Fed's action to control the nation's economic growth path will clash with the president's preference for a growth rate of as much as 4 percent is clear. The Fed prefers a growth rate of about 2 percent. What's not clear yet is how the president will react. He did not touch on the issue during his campaign-style rally speech Wednesday evening in Kentucky.
He did, however, attack the federal judge in Hawaii who stopped the latest version of the Trump travel ban because it discriminates against Muslims. President Trump defended his executive order on the legal ground that a president can establish limits on any group that threatens the security of the nation.
The court, however, held to the Constitution's First Amendment protection of religious freedom and its prohibition of religious preferences.
No comments:
Post a Comment