Congress codified this mandate in the 1978 Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act – the Humphrey Hawkins Act. Maintaining full employment while reducing inflation is central to protecting the workers who power our economy. However, a family’s “pocketbook” needs have little to do with interest rates, and potential job losses brought about by monetary over-tightening will only worsen these matters for the working class. The Federal Reserve’s tools work to lower inflation by reducing demand for economic activities sensitive to interest rates. As you explained in your September 21, 2022, FOMC remarks, “If your family is one where you spend most of your paycheck, every paycheck cycle, on gas, food, transportation, clothing, basics of life, and prices go up the way they’ve been going up, you’re in trouble right away.” High inflation affecting household needs such as food, healthcare, and transportation strains middle- and lower-income budgets. Yet, many workers and their families are struggling under the weight of inflation. It is your job to combat inflation, but at the same time, you must not lose sight of your responsibility to ensure that we have full employment.įor the first time in decades, we have seen historic job growth, and workers have begun to see wage gains, gains that your prior actions to stabilize the economy helped achieve. In June, Brown chaired a hearing with Chair Powell and urged him to prioritize working families in the face of rising consumer prices.Ī copy of the letter is available here and below:Īs you know, the Federal Reserve is charged with the dual mandate of promoting maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates in the U.S. In July, he released a statement on the FOMC’s rate hike and urged action on corporate price gouging and consolidation to ease consumer costs. I ask that you don’t forget your responsibility to promote maximum employment and that the decisions you make at the next FOMC meeting reflect your commitment to the dual mandate.”īrown has long fought to protect Americans’ pocketbooks against inflation. We can’t risk the livelihoods of millions of Americans who can’t afford it. “For working Americans who already feel the crush of inflation, job losses will make it much worse. “As you know, the Federal Reserve is charged with the dual mandate of promoting maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates in the U.S. The letter makes clear that the Fed’s fight against inflation must not hurt workers. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to Jerome Powell, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, to remind the Federal Reserve of its responsibility to maintain full employment.
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