NEW YORK, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell last week increased the Fed fund rate by 75 basis points and promised additional increases by year's end to lower the present annual inflation rate of 8.3 percent, which could cost the economy 1.2 million jobs, reported The Hill on Wednesday.
"Powell's decision suggests he prefers trading the pain of 1.2 million lost jobs for a little lower inflation for all. This is a costly action that ignores a less painful option. It is also Powell's third error in the past few years," the report noted.
In 2019, Powell began to tighten the Fed rate prematurely, recognized his mistake and reversed course, according to the report.
In the spring of 2020, facing pandemic-induced economic collapse, he pumped trillions of dollars into the economy for far too long, held the Fed rate close to zero and, as a result, propelled the present high inflation.
And earlier this year, Powell waited too long to tighten, and is now overreacting by increasing rates too fast and promising to do so for the foreseeable future, said the report.
"Powell should be patient, recognize that some inflation is beyond his control and reexamine the 2.0 percent inflation target," it added.
