Fed Chair Powell says interest rates are 'likely to be higher' than previously anticipated
Source: CNBC
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday cautioned that interest rates are likely to head higher than central bank policymakers had expected. Citing earlier data this year showing that inflation has reversed the deceleration it showed in late 2022, the central bank leader warned of tighter monetary policy ahead.
“The latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated,” Powell said in remarks prepared for two appearances this week on Capitol Hill. “If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes.”
Those remarks carry two implications: One, that the peak, or terminal, level of the federal funds rate is likely to be higher than the previous indication from the Fed officials, and, two, that the switch last month to a smaller quarter percentage point increase could be short-lived of inflation data continue to run hot.
In their December estimate, officials pegged the terminal rate at 5.1%. Current market pricing is a bit higher than that, in the 5.25%-5.5% areas, according to CME Group data. Powell did not specify how high he thinks rates ultimately will go.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/07/fed-chair-powell-says-interest-rates-are-likely-to-be-higher-than-previously-anticipated.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Actually 7 rate hikes during 45's administration and held it there until the pandemic hit and started cutting again. 
(graph from here as of Mar. 3, 2023 - https://www.macrotrends.net/2015/fed-funds-rate-historical-chart)
(from here - https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/fed-funds-rate-history/)
but then the cuts didn't happen again until the economy collapsed with his poor handling of the pandemic! 
ETA to note that Janet Yellen was Fed Chair from 2014 - 2018, so she was Chair for those earliest 3 rate hikes in 2017 and then Powell came in when Yellen's term was up in Feb. 2018 and he did the other 4 hikes.
Technically, that earlier "drop to near zero" originally happened when? It started the fall of 2007 when the Dow hit it's peak but then the housing market began to collapse and the junk bonds and worthless credit default swaps were rampant. The decreases continued in Shrub's final year, finally hitting the low of "near zero" (~0.25%) a month before Obama took office because of the "Great Recession". It stayed there the next 7 years until the end of 2015, when there were some small, once-a-year increases. When 45 came in, there were 3/4 times a year increases.
It had never really gone down that low before nor stayed that low for as long as it had during the modern period.
(above from here - https://www.epi.org/indicators/unemployment/)
And that was literally akin to what happened at the end of Shrub's term in 2008 before Obama won, where the economy had even shed something like 750,000 jobs just in the month of January 2009 when he was inaugurated.
So having come out of that economic disaster period by 2015 with Obama's "booming economy" (that 45 inherited), the rate hikes began anew at that point and continued for the next 3 years into 45's term.
At that point, it wasn't quite yet done to prevent "inflation" but supposedly (according to some) to avoid "deflation".
BUT after the pandemic hit and because of something that was tried under Biden that hadn't been done since FDR - pouring money into the economy (not piddling amounts but good chunks), there was a different type of scenario going on because it was already on top of those years of near zero interest rates. And then couple that with a major war in Europe that impacted not only energy (one of the biggest drivers of inflation) but commodities - notably crops (due to Ukraine apparently being Europe's "bread basket" ), and that seems to have fueled the inflation angst (in addition to the outright price gouging that we know has nothing to do with supply and demand but to gain profits).
I have posted many times that the last time that we had this odd intersection of calamities was WW1 ~2017 - 2019 (World War, global pandemic, extreme weather that impacts goods and services).
I blame you guys for making me do this!!
Forgive me because I am like this at the moment -
(it's what MIRT does to ya! )
I have a small IRA and 6% would be a great for me anyway. If I can get 6%, I'll go long on it! Seven years if it is an option! 
that mentioned the "CD" word.
I know I have interest-bearing savings accounts (including one at my credit union) and suddenly the interest payments have started to roll in "significantly" (in quotes because it is a comparison to next to nothing) for the first time in almost 10 years.
It is a fragment of the other one. The penalty on it is 4 years!
So, it is paying 2.1% until Sept. and after that it goes into the IRA share acct. which pays a whopping .025%! 
The other one is paying 3.4% until January. It is a bit bigger than the $1,000.00 one that I cannot get into without forfeiting all of that interest (big deal, a whole $20.00 a year).
I had to put it somewhere. It won't be there much longer anyway so I really do not care.
That said, it is a loser of an investment but cashing it out was not an option as you can only rollover once a year.
It was the best I could find when TFG was around saying that the "fed is driving me crazy".
Yes, it was driving TFG crazy as he screwed over old people and savers as he pocketed their money. 
I needed a new car badly at that time. It was 17% for a 5-year loan.
I couldn't afford that!
So, I kept driving my old VW bug.
Finally after another ten or so breakdowns, my late father convinced me to borrow the money to buy a new car from my late uncle at 7% interest.
I went for that "deal". However, it was not a deal at all. I would have been paying that uncle of mine for the rest of my life the way he had it rigged as the "payments" were simply paying him the interest on the loan!
Once I figured out that he was screwing me badly, I doubled up on those payments and paid the car off as fast as I could. It took me about two years to do it, but I did!
Still pissed at that greedy old uncle of mine after so many years.
Shame on him!
He could have given me the money to buy a new car I found out after he had died as money was left to me by my grandmother which I never saw but he sure saw it alright (and snapped it right up and kept it!). again ...
Lesson: DO NOT BORROW MONEY FROM A FAMILY MEMBER!
I was driving a '78 Colt. Good run-around car (had gotten it used with low mileage from my mom's next door neighbor - it was his 90+ year old aunt's car and she had recently passed). But it was 4-cylinder, had no power- nor power-assisted steering (it was just plain "rack-and-pinion" ), no AC, and was AM radio only. I would say it was probably barely a step above a bug being a sedan and not a manual shift (although I have been in bugs and they were generous with the space in them due to the bench seats and domed roof).
IOW, it was time!
That is where it has been from day #1. It was in the stock market for awhile but I got out of it as it was going down very fast.
It goes from a matured CD to an IRA savings acct., the thing that pays .025%. It is a holding tank for it until I can combine it with the other one. Its only a couple of months and the amount in it is the bare minimum so I'm not worried about it.
I was getting 6.5% for a long time but that was back in the days when interest rates were not at zero.
I had to hit it a lot last year to pay my late husband's medical expenses. At $500 a day, I had to make a lot of withdrawals to pay his hospice bills. 
I was not expecting this to occur believe me.
I was going to sell the house and move to Ireland as that is where he was from.
That did not happen, he died instead.
That hospice thing was ok for a few days but had it gone on for a month or longer, I don't know what I would have done as 30 days @ $500 a day would have been $15K. 
It is a sad way to spend your IRA up real quick, hence the rollover to the 2.1% CD for the time being.
!!!
TERM
APY*
4.70%
18 month
Not bad, not bad at all.
