As if you needed more evidence that the COVID-19 outbreak has ripple effects through the economy, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a half point this morning.
Adjusting the federal funds rate between meetings is a highly unusual move, one we haven’t seen since Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008. Stocks and bonds both surged on the news before sliding back into their drop from the past week. President Donald Trump tweeted that the cut was not enough.
So we’re going to take some time today to talk though what that cut means, what the Fed is saying about coronavirus, the market reaction and whether or not we should even care about stocks when there’s a pandemic brewing.
Plus, we’ll hear some of your reaction to our housing episode and look into the rules around price gouging. Consult this map before you drop hundreds of dollars on some Purell.
When you’re done listening, tell your Echo device to “make me smart” for new daily Alexa explainers, and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter. If you missed it, here’s last week’s issue.
Finally, we just kicked off a mini spring pledge drive with a super deal for Super Tuesday: Get our new Marketplace T-shirt with a donation of just $30 for a limited time. Details here.
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