The Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting coincides with St. Patrick's Day celebrations. The Fed's chairman, Jerome Powell, has a Welsh surname but a passing connection to St. Patrick through his mother's name. The Fed has recently signaled a shift in its stance on monetary policy, indicating a potential rate cut.
As the Federal Reserve prepares to convene next week, let’s not overlook the serendipitous timing of their gathering, nearly coinciding with the jovial festivities of St. Patrick's Day . Although the Fed's chairman, Jerome Powell , is of Irish descent, his surname is Welsh in origin, not Irish. It is derived from the Welsh name Hywel, with the Welsh prefix. His mother was born Patricia Hayden, which we suppose gives him at least a passing connection to St. Patrick.
Through the summer and fall of 2023, the Fed held firm to a stance of determined ambivalence. The central bank held its benchmark rate steady after a final hike in July, while publicly preserving the notion that monetary policy might need to tighten further to bring inflation down to the two percent target. However, in December, the Fed signaled a shift in its stance. It indicated that it was no longer pondering increasing rate hikes but determining the timing of a rate cut. This set off such a frenzy of speculation that rate cuts might be coming right away that in January the Fed felt it necessary to clarify its position. The Fed said it needed further evidence and more confidence that inflation is sustainably headed to target
Federal Reserve Gathering St. Patrick's Day Festivities Jerome Powell Welsh Surname Monetary Policy Rate Cut