The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is expected to maintain its benchmark lending rate at the 5%-5.25% range, marking the first skip after 10 consecutive increases going back to March of last year. While officials’ efforts have helped to reduce price pressures in the US economy, inflation remains well above their goal. Investors’ focus will be on the Fed’s quarterly dot plot in its Summary of Economic Projections, which is expected to show the policy benchmark rate at 5.1% at the end of 2023. 

In this episode of The Higher Standard, Chris and Saied examine this news and determine the effect it will have on the economy as a whole.

They discuss comments from Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, who claims to be surprised at the way the US economy has weathered higher interest rates, elevated inflation, and banking turmoil over the past year.

Chris and Saied look at recent Fed data, indicating that Americans have a record amount of credit card debt right now — close to $990 billion.

They also offer some thoughts on a revised home prices forecast from Goldman Sachs strategists, who now predict a smaller decline this year — 2.2% decline in 2023, down from 6.1%. 

Join Chris and Saied for this fascinating and informative conversation.

Enjoy!

What You’ll Learn in this Show:

• The little signs that people are noticing that signal a recession.
• Why people are reluctant to change their living standards.
• Why consumers will start cutting back on discretionary spending.
• And so much more...

Resources:

"The U.S. economy has been incredibly resilient,” Goldman Sachs CEO" (CNBC)

"Americans have almost $990 billion in credit card debt" (Marketplace)

"The hidden risk on bank balance sheets" (Axios)

"'I told you so': Dave Ramsey made the correct call on US real estate 18 months ago — but is he still right about housing in 2023? Here's what the financial guru thinks now" (Moneywise)

https://moneywise.com/real-estate/dave-ramseys-2023-real-estate-predictions

"Wall Street is divided on the outlook for US house prices. Here's what 6 experts have recently said." (Markets Insider)

"Fed Is Set to Pause and Assess the Effect of Rate Hikes" (Bloomberg)