Statewide Iowa — The Federal Reserve meets this week and is expected to raise the interest rate to try to cool down inflation.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the move is long overdue.
When the economy slows, the Federal Reserve typically lowers interest rates to spur growth. The rate has been around zero since March of 2020. All signals point to a quarter of a percent increase.
Grassley supports not only the rate hike, but the expected move to start reducing the amount of bond debt the Federal Reserve took on as a way to spur the economy during the pandemic.
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has been nominated for another term and Grassley says he’ll likely vote for Powell to stay on.
Grassley, a Republican, says there is one other Biden nominee for the Federal Reserve that he’s likely to support. It’s Lisa Cook, an economist from Michigan State University, who would be the first black woman to serve as a Federal Reserve governor.
