The week central banks changed course

The week central banks changed course
Tough gig: US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell (Image: Getty)
The Economist
The multi-trillion dollar world of central banking has just turned on a dime. In early June, the Fed (US Federal Reserve) was expected shortly to raise interest rates by half a percentage point. The European Central Bank (ECB) had just announced an end to its bond purchases. The Bank of Japan was unusual in its commitment to maintaining monetary stimulus despite growing disquiet about the plummeting yen. By the time our weekly edition was published, however, the Fed had raised rates by three-quarters of a point; the ECB ...

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