The Federal Reserve just cut interest rates by 50 basis points, citing cooling inflation and signs of economic slowdown. This is the first time rates have been adjusted since July 2023, which ended a long streak of raising rates to tame inflation.

Jerome Powell, the unflappable Federal Reserve chair, would never march into a press conference, declare victory over inflation and drop the mic while giving a middle finger to his haters. That’s not his style.

We concluded that this was the right thing for the economy and the people we serve,” the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, said, referring to the central bank’s decision to cut interest rates by half a point.