DeSantis says Federal Reserve’s job is ‘not to be an economic central planner’
David Zimmermann
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Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) criticized the Federal Reserve after the centralized banking system raised interest rates. He said its job is “not to be an economic central planner.”
DeSantis called the Fed “a huge part of the problem,” referring to the federal bank’s efforts to counter record inflation in the U.S. economy. He delivered the remarks Wednesday at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.
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“Their job at the Fed should simply be to maintain stable prices, not to be an economic central planner, not to worry about social issues or climate change or any of that stuff,” DeSantis said.
“They’ve dropped the ball first by printing too much [money] but then also trying to act like the inflation was transitory when it was obvious this was something that was going to be an issue,” he added.
While slamming the Fed, the Republican governor praised Florida’s economic achievements, like the state’s no-income-tax policy, during the speech.
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Earlier Wednesday, the Fed hiked its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point from 5.25% to 5.5%, the highest it has been in 22 years. The move was made to fight historic inflation by increasing borrowing costs. As a result of the price hike, the central bank now predicts a recession will no longer occur any time soon.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters at a Wednesday news conference that Fed staffers have seen “a noticeable slowdown in growth starting later this year in the forecast, but given the resilience of the economy recently, they are no longer forecasting a recession.”