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Most recently updated firstOct16
The Fed's Rate Path: From the 2024 Cuts to Warsh's First Meetings
The Fed began easing in September 2024, cutting the federal-funds target range from 5.25%-5.50% to 3.50%-3.75% by December 2025 after a nine-month pause earlier that year. Under Jerome Powell, disagreements first centered on whether to cut faster; after Kevin Warsh became chair in May 2026, inflation and energy-price pressures shifted the debate toward whether to tighten.
Oct14
Social Security's Next Raise: From the 2.5% COLA to the 2027 Announcement
Social Security’s 2025 COLA was 2.5%, followed by a 2.8% increase for 2026 and a 3.6% increase announced for 2027. The 2027 adjustment, which raises the average retirement benefit by about $75 a month, follows a year in which forecasts moved with CPI-W data from 2.8% to as high as 3.9% before converging near the final figure.
Oct14
How the Social Security COLA Is Set: From the 1973 Law to the Third-Quarter CPI-W Formula
Social Security benefit increases were once set through separate acts of Congress. Amendments enacted in 1973 made cost-of-living adjustments automatic and tied them to inflation, with the first automatic 8.0 percent increase payable in June 1975.
