Federal Reserve Expected to Hold Interest Rates Steady

Where Left and Right agree, and where they split

Where Left and Right agree

Inflation remains above the Fed's 2% target after last month's quarter-point hike, and whether to raise rates again is a genuinely open question officials are still weighing.

Where Left and Right split

The left and the right split on what makes pausing rate hikes defensible right now.

Why they won’t converge

The divide is about trust in the Fed's institutional independence: one side treats proximity to the midterms as a reason for restraint, the other insists the timing of the vote must play no role in a credibility-based inflation target.

Watch for

Axios reports Fed communications have pointed to holding rates steady this week while penciling in another rate hike in December, making that meeting a concrete test of whether officials follow through.Axios