The September 1999 issue of Economic Outlook, from the AEI, consists of an article by John H. Makin explaining interest rate behaviors, including the role of government financial activity, a definition of the Fisher Equation, and the effects of cost-push inflation.

As expected, the Federal Reserve voted to raise interest rates 0.25 percent, the fifth rate raise since June. The interest rate boost is expected to help keep inflation in check during this record period (108 months) of economic expansion. Technology companies have continued to signal healthy economic growth, and unemployment rates remain low. Despite drastic price hikes in gasoline and heating...

In a surprise move, the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee cut interest rates by one-half of a percentage point on Wednesday. For the second time this year, the interest rate change was decided during an emergency conference call between scheduled meetings. The Fed offered numerous reasons for the cut including slow business investment, tapering consumer confidence, unsteady foreign...

This week's In the News chronicles recent Federal Reserve Board decisions to lower interest rates. The eleven resources discussed provide news, opinion, and consumer information on the FRB BOG action. Following the first US interest rate cut in three years on September 29, 1998, FED Chairman Alan Greenspan caught fire from Wall Street. "Traders were disappointed" in the mere quarter point drop,...

RateNet was jointly developed by DataTrac, PR Newswire (discussed in the February 7, 1997 Scout Report) and IDC Financial Publishing. RateNet connects consumers to financial institutions on the Internet by providing a ranking service for the banking industry. Users may examine the current and historic interest rates of over 11,000 financial institutions from 175 markets across America. There are...

On Tuesday October 19, 1999, the US Department of Labor released its September 1999 Consumer Price Index (CPI), which showed a rise of 0.4 percent, the third monthly rise in a row. Wall Street breathed a sigh of relief at the news of the report as recent anxiety over the rising CPI and the threat of interest rates had sent the Nasdaq plunging. Tuesday, after the release of the report, stocks...

As speculated, on Tuesday, May 16, 2000, the Federal Reserve Board decided to raise US interest rates another 0.5 percent, to 6.5 percent. This interest rate hike follows five previous increases of a quarter-point each since June 1999. This is the first time in sixteen years that US interest rates have risen above 5 percent. The new rate will affect the borrowing costs for many Americans,...