Fed Chair Powell says full economic recovery depends on managing COVID-19

Social distancing and wearing masks will help get the economy back to full strength, Powell said Thursday.
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The Fed wants to lend money to more small businesses, but many aren't interested

Nov 2, 2020
The central bank dropped the minimum loan amount under its Main Street Lending Program to $100,000. But not many businesses feel confident taking out loans they'll have to repay in five years.
A bartender prepares to open his bar in Ocean City, Maryland, amid the pandemic, May 29, 2020.
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A president and his Fed chair clash. Sound familiar?

Oct 27, 2020
Trump has pressured the head of the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. But he wasn't the first American leader to do so.
President Lyndon B. Johnson wanted to fire Fed Chair William McChesney Martin Jr. for hiking interest rates. But presidents can't do that, so Johnson gave him a tongue lashing instead and shoved him against a wall.
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Fed’s Powell: Lack of further stimulus imperils recovery

Oct 6, 2020
Powell said that government support has so far prevented a recessionary “downward spiral."
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is reflected in the sneeze guard set up between himself and members of the House Committee during a hearing in June.
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Fed looks to overhaul laws meant to make sure lower-income Americans have access to loans

The law is meant to demand that when banks take deposits from a particular area, they also make loans there.
The Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C.
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Fed plans to keep interest rates near zero through 2023. What else can it do for the economy?

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said another relief package from Congress will likely be needed.
The Fed can't make grants. That's Congress' job. "These are lending powers, not spending powers," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.
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Fed's final message before November election: moderation

Sep 17, 2020
That's a message that might be reassuring, depending on how the pandemic has treated you, or your business.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell testifies during a hearing on Capitol Hill in June. The Fed has improved their outlook, one analyst said.
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There have only been a handful of Black financial regulators, for generations

Sep 7, 2020
Only 10 of 327 top financial regulators appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate were Black.
About 3% of the financial regulators that oversee Wall Street have been Black, according to a report out from Georgetown University.
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How low interest rates could make inequality worse

Low interest rates hurt our ability to save.
Karen Petrou, managing partner at Federal Financial Analytics, says there's "nothing" in the Federal Reserve's new policy for "shared prosperity."
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