ECONOMY/FEDERAL RESERVE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Federal Reserve sent a clear signal Wednesday [3-20-19] that it’s unlikely to raise interest rates at all this year, a striking change from December when central bank officials judged that two more hikes might be necessary in 2019. That message is certain to please President Donald Trump, who last year repeatedly bashed the Fed for its steady campaign of rate increases. What bodes less well for Trump is that the central bank downgraded its estimate for rate hikes because it expects slower economic growth. The Fed did not announce any rate moves on Wednesday. Fed officials project that the U.S. economy will grow by 2.1 percent this year, down from their 2.3 percent prediction in December. That outlook clashes with the optimistic growth forecast put forward just the day before by White House economists, who projected that gross domestic product would expand at or above 3 percent for the next five years, citing a pickup in business investment after the 2017 corporate tax cuts. The Fed doesn’t share that analysis.”
–Victoria Guida, “Federal Reserve, rejecting Trump’s growth forecast, confirms rate-hike pause,” Politico, March 20, 2019 4:43 pm