Of all the things that happened at Wednesday’s unusually consequential Federal Reserve meeting, the rate cut was probably one of the least interesting. For one governor, it was the first meeting since President Trump tried to fire her. And for another, Trump’s newest appointee, it was the first meeting ever. The Fed chair, Jerome Powell, who has been fending off White House insults and attacks on the Fed’s independence, was left trying to decipher an economy that’s making some confusing noises. And the upshot? A wide-ranging conversation hosted by Times Opinion with four economists of various stripes didn’t exactly reach a consensus, but they hovered around one: Not everything is awesome, but perhaps the economy isn’t in terrible shape. Oren Cass said the economy was weathering Trump’s policy changes better than expected. Jason Furman noted some signs of weakening, but confessed it was hard to be confident in particular about the impact of tariffs. Rebecca Patterson said spending from artificial intelligence was boosting growth. Lawrence H. Summers noted that even drunken drivers often get to their destination (“It’s still a terrible mistake,” he added). The economists divided much more sharply on other matters, including the effect of tariffs on prices and inflation, and the wisdom of appointing Stephen Miran to the Fed board while he still worked for the president as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Still, in marked contrast to the tone of an April conversation among the same four economists, this one was a lot less gloomy. Here’s what we’re focusing on today:
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