fedinterestrates

America’s central bank left rates untouched, to widespread market delight. Why is this economic cycle confounding expectations so much, and how to bring it to a gentle end? We look at the modern fortunes of Vodafone, a once-mighty telecoms firm that is slimming down to get healthier (11:21). And why Britain’s system for protecting its historic buildings from change…needs to change (16:10).

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On today's podcast:

1) Trump, Biden Ride Super Tuesday Wins to Rematch Few Want

2) Nikki Haley Exits the GOP Presidential Race

3) Investors Await Powell Congressional Testimony 

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Two economic experts discuss their forecasts for the economy in 2024 including predictions on a possible recession, a housing market bubble, inflation and interest rates. Get the facts first on Morning Wire.

Today we’re geeking out over the bond market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note has dropped from a few weeks ago and now sits close to 4.1%. We’ll unpack what a bond market rally could mean for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision-making as well as for the average American. Plus, what happens when someone says they intend to abuse their power? We’ll get into former President Donald Trump’s remarks at an Iowa town hall last night.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• • “United States Rates & Bonds” from Bloomberg

• • “Former House speaker Kevin McCarthy to resign from Congress at end of year” from The Guardian

• • “Tuberville drops hold on military promotions” from NPR

• • “Trump’s ‘dictator’ remark jolts the 2024 campaign — and tests his GOP rivals on debate day” from Politico

• • “She spent a month trying to help stray dog whose head was stuck in a jug” from The Washington Post

• • “Woman who threw Chipotle order at worker can work off jail time at fast food restaurant” from Fox8

• • Sailor Cole Brauer on Instagram

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Krystal and Saagar discuss the Fed stunning with an interest rate pause, shocking polls showing $20 dollar minimum wage overwhelming popular, a huge push for adding Ukraine to NATO, Russia deploys nukes closer to Ukraine, Cornel West flips to Green party, Biden panics over 3rd party bid, Alien UFO whistleblower stonewalled by Media, Amazon locks Smart Home for "Racism" Allegation, the Truth about "Hot Girls" in College Sports, and our first Panel in the new studio on Trump v Desantis with Samuel Mangold-Lennet and Ryan Girdusky.

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Annual US inflation fell in December to its lowest level in more than a year, and Sweden’s state-owned mining company LKAB has said it has discovered Europe’s largest deposit of rare earth metals. Plus, the FT’s Jonathan Wheatley and Farhan Bokhari discuss Pakistan’s financial crisis. 

Mentioned in this podcast:

US inflation falls to lowest level in more than a year

Pakistan secures more than $9bn of pledges for post-flood recovery

Sweden discovers biggest rare earths deposit in EU

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The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson and Marc Filippino. The show’s editor is Jess Smith. Additional help by Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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