All posts tagged: Rates

Why Warsh won’t raise Fed’s interest rates this week: Analysis

Why Warsh won’t raise Fed’s interest rates this week: Analysis

Published by Sam Flores

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh isn’t likely to oversee an increase in interest rates at this week’s Fed meeting, for at least three reasons. First, Warsh personally doesn’t seem to buy the arguments for hikes. Second, raising rates would undermine the outcomes of his task forces. And, third, a rate increase risks putting him on the wrong side of some uncomfortable politics with the Trump administration. And yet Warsh faces a divided Federal Open Market Committee, with perhaps three or four people out of a dozen voting members prepared to call for immediate rate increases. Investors see a nearly 40% chance of a rate increase this week, according to CME FedWatch. Warsh would face an uphill climb at the committee meeting to merely keep rates steady, so how he addresses each of those three key rationales will be revealing. More CNBC news on the Federal Reserve For one, Warsh arguably doesn’t want higher rates right now, and he hasn’t promised anything. He has committed to ending “forward guidance,” a practice of precommitting the Fed to …

Despite Frustration Over High Prices, Federal Reserve Is Expected to Keep Rates Unchanged — for Now

Despite Frustration Over High Prices, Federal Reserve Is Expected to Keep Rates Unchanged — for Now

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve policymakers are losing patience with inflation, but they may not be ready to turn their frustration into action — not this week anyway. Meeting in Washington Tuesday and Wednesday, the Fed is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged. Members of the central bank’s rate-setting committee may not be so reluctant to act when they gather again next Sept. 15-16. Inflation has been stuck above the Fed’s 2% target for more than five years. New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh told Congress earlier this month that he had “no tolerance’’ for elevated inflation. Warsh is presiding over his second policy meeting this week. Fed watchers Joseph Egelhof and Guneet Dhingra at BNP Paribas Securities say it’s possible Warsh’s central bank will “release the kraken’’ with a “shock rate hike’’ this week; more likely, they wrote in a commentary, policymakers will hold off, reluctant to risk disrupting financial markets that aren’t expecting a rate increase yet. Policymakers may also want to see more economic data: On Thursday, the Commerce Department delivers …

Falling birth rates mean schools are closing – affecting whole communities

Falling birth rates mean schools are closing – affecting whole communities

Published by skeptic

As another academic year ends, some schools will be closing their doors permanently due to falling numbers of children. In England, declining birth rates over the last decade have led to over 100 schools, predominantly in urban areas, permanently closing. This relatively recent phenomenon is unprecedented in modern times. The last drop in pupil numbers, in the 2000s, was addressed through increased funding and smaller class sizes, not school closures. The effect that school closures have on children, teachers and families is not well understood. Beyond the Department for Education’s assessment that sufficient school capacity exists nationally, the lived reality of this is often hidden. We are carrying out research to explore the effect that these closures have on communities. Our analysis suggests they are disproportionately affecting communities that experience higher levels of deprivation. We carried out interviews at a primary school facing closure – speaking to the headteacher, two school staff, the chair of governors and a parent governor, to find out how its closure would affect the community. Primary schools, especially those serving …

Trump backs ‘fantastic’ Warsh; calls for lower rates; cites others’ ‘bad intentions’

Trump backs ‘fantastic’ Warsh; calls for lower rates; cites others’ ‘bad intentions’

Published by Sam Flores

US President Donald Trump during an announcement in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, July 24, 2026. Bonnie Cash | Bloomberg | Getty Images President Donald Trump on Monday voiced support for Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh while insisting that the U.S. should have the lowest interest rates in the world. While backing his choice to lead the central bank, Trump questioned the motives of other members of the Fed’s Board of Governors for not wanting to ease monetary policy. “Kevin’s fantastic, but he’s got a board, and the board members are very political, I would say,” the president said during a session with reporters on Air Force One. “He wants to do the right thing. I know what he wants to do.” The president’s comments came two days before the bank’s Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, releases its latest interest rate decision. Markets are pricing in a strong chance that officials will vote to stay on hold, as they have all year, though they’re leaving open …

Finland & Spain Have The Highest Unemployment Rates, Japan The Lowest

Finland & Spain Have The Highest Unemployment Rates, Japan The Lowest

Published by Jenni Sidey

Unemployment across the OECD averaged 4.9% in May 2026, but labor market conditions continued to vary significantly from one country to another as economic growth slowed across parts of the developed world. This visualization ranks seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for people aged 15 and older across OECD member countries in May 2026, using data from the OECD. Finland Tops the Ranking Finland recorded the highest unemployment rate among OECD countries at 10.8%, narrowly ahead of Spain at 10.3%. The country’s labor market challenges have been especially pronounced among younger workers, with unemployment reaching 23% among Finns under the age of 25. Several European Economies Face Labor Market Pressure Europe dominates the upper end of the ranking, with Sweden, France, Türkiye, Greece, Lithuania, Denmark, Luxembourg, and the Baltic states all posting unemployment rates above the OECD average of 4.9%. Spain has consistently recorded one of the highest unemployment rates in the OECD for decades, reflecting long-standing structural challenges in its labor market. Meanwhile, countries such as France and Sweden have also experienced softer labor demand amid weaker economic growth …

Andy Burnham Slashes Business Rates For Hospitality Sector As Policy Blitz Continues

Andy Burnham Slashes Business Rates For Hospitality Sector As Policy Blitz Continues

Published by Sam Flores

Andy Burnham has already restored the £2 cap on bus fares. Pubs, clubs and music venues are to see their business rates slashed by 20%, Andy Burnham has announced. The new prime minister unveiled the move – which was revealed by HuffPost UK two days ago – on Thursday morning. It comes after Burnham also announced that VAT will be removed from electricity bills from October, and the restoration of the £2 cap on bus fares. The latest move is expected to save 32,000 businesses in the hospitality sector around £1,100 a year. The support package will cost the public purse around £100 million a year, and will be paid for by reviewing reliefs for businesses that do not make a positive contribution to local communities, such as vape shops. Ministers will also crack down on online businesses which do not pay their fair share of tax. Burnham said: “For too long, governments have stood by while cherished venues have disappeared from our local high streets. So today I am changing that. “This government will back …

How Google’s New Gemini Rates Work and How to Track Your Usage

How Google’s New Gemini Rates Work and How to Track Your Usage

Published by skeptic

Google doesn’t specify what the usage limits are on the free tier—it describes them only as “standard.” You then get 2x these “standard” limits on the AI Plus plan, and 4x on the AI Pro plan. The AI Ultra limits are either 5x or 20x higher than those on AI Pro, depending on which level of payment you’re on. All users have access to all the Gemini AI models, including Flash-Lite, Flash, and Pro. As you progress through those models, they get smarter and will count more toward usage. Each model also has different “thinking” levels—Standard, Extended, and Deep Think—which also affect response quality, speed, and usage limits. The final difference between these models is context window size. Basically, this indicates how much information you can include in a single conversation thread. For free users, the context window is 32K tokens (small chunks of text)—roughly 24,000 words. For AI Plus users, it goes up to 128K tokens (about 96,000 words), and for AI Pro and Ultra users, the limit is a million tokens (about 750,000 …

Are rates of ADHD really rising?

Are rates of ADHD really rising?

Published by Jenni Sidey

In the last few years, there has been intense media and political focus on the rising numbers of people seeking support and diagnostic services for ADHD. This has been accompanied by a greater number of prescriptions for ADHD medications being issued. Some people now suggest that ADHD is being over-diagnosed, that psychiatrists are overusing diagnostic labels, and that society is over-medicalizing healthy variation. So, has the rate of ADHD really risen? Are we now over-diagnosing ADHD? What does the evidence show? The global prevalence of ADHD is estimated at around 5% for children and 3% for adults1. In most countries, there is good evidence that the administrative prevalence of ADHD (those who receive a diagnosis in services) is lower than the population prevalence (the true rate of ADHD in the population). Certainly, in the UK, there is robust evidence of under-diagnosis and under-treatment of ADHD1,2. Most never access services especially those from disadvantaged or minority groups with pronounced regional differences2. However, what is clear is that demand for ADHD services has risen. What might explain …

No excuse to raise rates, Warsh will push Fed to right answer

No excuse to raise rates, Warsh will push Fed to right answer

Published by Sam Flores

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Wednesday he sees no argument for raising interest rates in light of the latest data on the U.S. economy, including an “amazing” inflation report. “There’s not really an excuse for raising rates right now,” Hassett said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” He said that he expects the Federal Reserve will “be thinking the other way,” meaning lowering interest rates, if the data trends continue. Hassett added that the White House is expecting Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s pick who started the job in late May, will “drive the committee to the right answer.” Hassett’s inclination toward lower rates matches Trump’s insistent demand that the U.S. central bank must quickly slash rates in order to boost the economy and make borrowing cheaper. The economist’s CNBC appearance came one day after the latest consumer price index reading, which measures the costs of a wide range of U.S. goods and services, came in much lower than expected. CPI fell a seasonally adjusted 0.4% during June, bringing the annual inflation rate …