In partnership with
👋Hi Friends,
📆This Week’s Topic
This week we are talking about interest rates. We have taken a look in the past at interest rates when discussing the financial summary of 2024; if you would like to learn more take a look at the article. We have also discussed interest rates in terms of different types of savings accounts; if you would like to view that article click here . Today, we are talking about the decision the Federal Reserve is making to see whether interest rates are going to be stable, increase, or decrease. Before we begin I will provide some very brief context about the interest rate in the past 9 months. In late 2024 the Federal Reserve stopped interest rate reductions temporarily after a surge of cuts that lowered borrowing costs significantly.
💳 Cause & Effect
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve unanimously decided to keep interest rates between 4.25%-4.5%. This decision was made partly because they did not know what the future of Trump’s tariffs will be and what effect they will have on the U.S. economy. For now, the Federal Reserve is taking a wait-and-see approach, choosing to keep interest rates where they are.
📊 Statistics
New projections also state that there could be some decreasing of the federal interest rates to compensate with the lower growth of the economy. President Trump has requested lower interest rates this year to help with his tariff plan. But, so far the federal reserve has kept them stable. Trump has pressured the Central Bank to lower borrowing costs and insulted the federal reserve chair Jerome H. Powell. Trump has also repeatedly threatened to fire Powell before his leadership term is over in late 2026. Indeed, Trump revived these attacks a few hours before the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting.
Quick, hard-hitting business news.
Morning Brew was built on a simple idea: business news doesn’t have to be boring.
Today, it’s the fastest-growing newsletter in the country with over 4.2 million readers—thanks to a format that makes staying informed both easy and enjoyable.
Each morning, Morning Brew delivers the day’s biggest stories—from Wall Street to Silicon Valley and beyond—in bite-sized reads packed with facts, not fluff, and just enough wit to keep things interesting.
Try the newsletter for free and see why busy professionals are ditching jargon-heavy, traditional business media for a smarter, faster way to stay in the loop.
🎙️Debate At The Reserve
Christopher Waller, a Federal Reserve Governor, who was appointed to the Fed in 2020 by President Trump recently said he thought that Trump’s tariffs would be limited in their effect on inflation and urged a rate cut by July. Others have a different outlook. Tom Barkin, Richmond Fed president, argued that there was no reason to urgently cut rates. These debates are happening against the backdrop of President Trump harshly attacking Jerome Powell. Recently, Trump insulted Powell and called him a “numbskull.” Trump once again mentioned the possibility of firing Powell. We will have to watch closely continuing discussions at the Federal Reserve over interest rates, and whether Trump gets the rate cuts he desperately wants.
⛱ Consumer Effect
With housing prices on the rise, and financing property becoming more difficult the interest rate staying the same provides stability on confidence for these home buyers. In addition, the slightly higher interest rate is good for high-yield savings account. Interest rates have lowered since 2024 and the 4.5% is a good number for savings accounts. They are able to provide a good interest rate while also keeping the rates for homes in a reasonable range. These interest rates will also help keep inflation to a minimum.
⏳ Final Summary
In summary, interest rates will remain the same for now, as the Federal Reserve takes a wait-and-see approach. But some at the Fed are suggesting interest rate cuts could make sense here as soon as next month. The results of the Federal Reserve keep the federal interest rate between 4.25% and 4.5% in an effort to be conservative due to the chaos over the current trade war. 4.5% is in the middle for a good savings account interest rate and a lower mortgage rate.
🙏Thank You & Important Information
Anyway, thank you so much for reading this edition of Friday Finance. I would also like to welcome our new writer/contributing editor to our newsletter. His name is Grayson Stein and he wrote last week’s article. If you have any questions or thoughts for me or him please email [email protected]. Also, next week there will not be an article, as Friday Finance celebrates the July 4th holiday. Anyway, have a great week and I will see you in two weeks.
Jacob Gans
Friday Finance