The combination of surging oil and gasoline prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, broader inflation worries resulting from continued supply-chain disruptions and fears about aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve have sent the market into a tailspin.
Put simply: “It’s a pretty bad storm,” Joann Weiner, an economics professor at George Washington University, told What Matters.
Here’s what you need to know about this week’s consequential Federal Reserve meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday and why it matters.
All eyes on Wednesday
To fight inflation, the US central bank is expected to increase its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, the biggest single hike since 1994.
This follows the Fed’s decision to raise its rate by half a percentage point in May, the biggest increase in 22 years.
CNN’s Matt Egan puts it this way: The fact that the Fed is decisively moving away from zero shows…
