Fed hikes rates
News · Heat 8.5 / 10 · 13 shows · 1h 38m airtime
On September 16 the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate a quarter point to a 3.75-4% target range, its first hike since July 2023, in a unanimous decision. Diesel hit a record $6.31 a gallon the same day. The Fed then held rates at its October meeting. Core PCE inflation has run at 2% for three months, though headline inflation came in at 3.4% and the budget deficit sits at 6% of GDP. Trump told Time rates should be 1 percent, and Goolsbee says AI data center investment is pushing up prices for components, electricians and land. Investors expect a possible December hike.
How 13 podcasts covered it
- Up First, 2026-09-16 (2:09 to 5:41)
Reports the quarter-point hike and record diesel
Reports the Fed's expected quarter-point hike, the first in three years, driven by war inflation; notes diesel's record $6.31 a gallon and the CBO's warning of continued price pressure.
New angle: AAA said diesel jumped to a record $6.31 a gallon. - Marketplace, 2026-09-16 (1:31 to 4:12)
Recaps the hike and Warsh's three reasons
Recaps the Fed's quarter-point hike and Warsh's three reasons - a stronger economy, inflation trends failing his test, worse geopolitics - then turns to bond investors absorbing the sell-off with no forward guidance to lean on.
New angle: The Fed raised rates a quarter point, its first hike since July 2023, in a unanimous decision. - Prof G Markets, 2026-09-17 (2:20 to 19:09)
Interviews Armstrong on the first hike since 2023
Interviews Robert Armstrong on the Fed's first hike since 2023: the unanimous vote, the two dots showing the pre-hike rate as appropriate for year-end, and Warsh's reaction-function mantra. Reads the 10-year's 5.04% high as mostly inflation, not growth. - Up First, 2026-09-17 (2:11 to 5:32)
Recaps the hike and adds the political frame
Recaps the hike and the Warsh-Trump friction, then adds the political frame: Trump picked Warsh after threatening to fire Powell, and pressed the Fed again on social media the night before. Also notes retail sales rose across the board, including hobby supplies and sporting goods. - The AI Daily Brief, 2026-09-17 (1:33 to 3:01)
Reports the hike and its data center fallout
Reports the Fed's first rate hike in three years and its potential to slow debt-funded data center construction, citing Moody's $240 billion hyperscaler bond issuance projection and two more expected hikes by end-2027. - The Journal., 2026-09-17 (0:07 to 3:06)
Reports the quarter-point hike from the briefing room
Nick Timiraos reports from the Fed press briefing room on the quarter-point hike to 3.75–4%, the first in three years, framing it against the midterms and the White House's inflation claims.
New angle: The Fed raised the target range a quarter point to 3.75–4%, its first hike in three years. - The Journal., 2026-09-17 (5:09 to 6:36)
Traces the hike back to the Iran oil shock
Goes back to the origin of the hike: Trump tapped Warsh in January expecting cuts, then the U.S.-Israel assault on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz closure spiked oil and inflation, and other central banks began raising around Warsh's May start. - The Journal., 2026-09-17 (11:14 to 12:18)
Adds the White House pressure before the vote
Adds the White House side of the hike: Trump's pre-decision meeting with Warsh, his public instruction to vote with the board, and his on-the-record description of the board as hostile and political. - The Journal., 2026-09-17 (17:48 to 18:57)
Reads the projections and argues independence
Timiraos reads the post-meeting projections: a majority of officials now expect at least one more hike before year-end, and he argues Warsh's willingness to raise rates over Trump's objection is the first evidence of independence. - Pod Save America, 2026-09-18 (8:48 to 11:51)
Adds the Powell and Cook probes and a mortgage drop
Recaps the Fed's Wednesday hike and Trump's reaction, then adds two facts not yet on the record: Trump launched criminal investigations into Powell and Lisa Cook, and mortgage applications to buy a new home dropped 20 percent. - Prof G Markets, 2026-09-21 (5:29 to 19:13)
Debates hiking into an Iran-war supply shock
Covers the Fed's first rate hike since 2023: the unanimous vote, Trump's criticism of the board while sparing Warsh, and the market reaction. Debates whether hiking into an Iran-war supply shock can work, and notes Goldman's negative three-month return at the start of past hiking cycles. - What Next, 2026-09-30 (2:31 to 4:23)
Sets up the pressure on Powell
Sets up the episode's frame: Trump's long promise of cheap money, his public pressure on Powell, and Warsh's recent refusal to cut. Background and framing ahead of the Wolfers interview, not a new development in the hike itself. - What Next, 2026-09-30 (13:19 to 17:59)
Adds the deficit figure and the 70-30 call
Wolfers puts a figure on the fiscal side of the rate story: the current budget deficit is the largest peacetime, non-recessionary deficit on record at 6 percent of GDP, with the AI buildout adding to government borrowing demand. Also flags the next Fed meeting, at the end of October, with forecasters at 70-30 for another hike.
New angle: The current budget deficit is the largest peacetime, non-recessionary deficit on record at 6 percent of GDP. - The Dan Bongino Show, 2026-09-30 (52:04 to 55:22)
Reads out a fresh inflation scorecard
Reads out a fresh inflation scorecard - 3.4% headline versus 3.7% expected, core PCE 0.2% month over month and 3% year over year - and credits the tax cuts and capital build-out for the softer print, against Biden's 5% average.
New angle: Headline inflation came in at 3.4% versus 3.7% expected; core PCE was 0.2% month over month and 3% year over year. - The Bulwark Daily, 2026-10-01 (16:05 to 19:11)
Notes core PCE at 2% for three months
Barro walks through the Fed's quarter-point hike and the inflation debate, then notes core PCE inflation has run at 2% for three months - a figure not yet on the record - and that three FOMC members dissented in July.
New angle: Core PCE inflation has run at 2% for three months. - The Bulwark Daily, 2026-10-01 (19:29 to 21:44)
Argues deficits keep the Fed hiking
Barro argues long-term rates track expectations of Fed policy and that deficits are inflationary, so the Fed may have to hike more than it otherwise would. Analysis of the hike's backdrop, not a new development in the decision. - The Bulwark Daily, 2026-10-01 (22:03 to 25:07)
Reads Trump's Time interview on rates
Reads Trump's Time interview on the Fed: he says rates should be 1 percent and that Warsh is controlled to a certain extent by the board. Barro explains the chair holds only one FOMC vote, so Warsh cannot set rates alone.
New angle: Trump told Time rates should be 1 percent and Warsh is controlled to a certain extent by the board. - Up First, 2026-10-02 (2:52 to 7:01)
Walks the jobs report and borrowing costs
Walks the September jobs report and the borrowing-cost picture: wages up 3.1% against 3.4% inflation, 10-year yield around 5.25%, 30-year mortgage just under 7.25%, and federal debt at $40 trillion - double nine years ago. - Consider This from NPR, 2026-10-14 (2:28 to 8:38)
Interviews Goolsbee on the hot CPI print
Interviews Chicago Fed president Austin Goolsbee on the September CPI report: 3.7% year over year, higher than expected and above target, with services inflation distressingly high. He warns the uptick may not be a temporary tariff or oil blip and points to AI data center investment driving up prices for electronic components, electricians and land.
New angle: Goolsbee says AI data center investment is pushing up prices for electronic components, electricians and land. - The Daily, 2026-10-21 (8:04 to 10:58)
Walks through the Fed hike's path to mortgages
Casselman walks through the mechanics of how Fed rate moves feed into borrowing costs, then lands on housing: 30-year mortgage rates around 7.5 percent, up from below 3 percent during the pandemic. A retelling of the September hike and its transmission, with no new development. - Up First, 2026-10-28 (9:39 to 13:05)
Previews the Fed hold and split vote
Previews today's Fed meeting: investors expect a hold, with a likely split vote, before a possible December hike. Adds the September CPI figure of 3.7 percent and the economists' read on energy-driven inflation and declining purchasing power.
New angle: Investors expect the Fed to hold rates steady today and possibly hike in December. - Up First, 2026-10-29 (6:12 to 9:33)
Previews pre-midterm data and confirms the Fed hold
Previews the last big data before the midterms and confirms the Fed held rates a day after its September hike, framing the hold as caution about mortgage and credit card costs plus the election calendar. The inflation and GDP figures it cites are already on the record.
New angle: The Fed held rates at its October meeting, a day after hiking in September. - Global News Podcast, 2026-10-29 (20:54 to 23:37)
Plays voter voices on the cost of living
Vox pop from New York's third congressional district on the cost of living, pegged to the Fed's decision to hold rates steady before the midterms. The rate hold is a recap of what Up First already logged; the voter voices are color, not a new development. - The Fox News Rundown, 2026-10-30 (14:39 to 19:18)
Adds September PCE and the wage gap
Brings the September PCE reading to the Fed story: headline PCE at 3.6% annual, up from 3.4%, and core at 3.1%, still well above the 2% target. Adds that inflation has outpaced wage growth for six or seven months, the longest stretch in about 15 years.
New angle: PCE rose 3.6% annual in September, up from 3.4%, with core at 3.1%. - The Fox News Rundown, 2026-10-30 (22:23 to 23:34)
Recaps the October hold and Warsh's presser
Recaps the October hold and Warsh's Wednesday press conference, where he argued gradual tightening makes for a more durable economy. Frames the moment against the mid-1990s tinkering before the dot-com blowout. Stays inside the week's Fed coverage.