Interest-rate cuts are usually smooth, almost ceremonial. But the Fed’s quarter-point reduction — from 3.75 to 3.5 percent — came on a fractured 9–3 vote, the sort of public division the Federal Open Market Committee tries desperately to avoid. One member wanted a deeper cut. Two insisted there should be no cut at all. Jerome Powell brushed off the split as routine disagreement, but the context makes it unusual: inflation is still above target, the October shutdown left holes in the data, and the economy’s temperature has become one of the most politically charged issues of the moment.
The Fed’s projections were rosier than expected — stronger growth driven by consumers, AI investment and productivity gains — but that optimism clashes with voter sentiment.
