ICYMI: Watch Owens debunk the myth that the cure for inflation is unemployment on CNBC’s Squawk Box
Ahead of tomorrow’s Consumer Price Index release, Groundwork’s Executive Director Lindsay Owens joined CNBC’s Squawk Box this week to make the case for immediate rate cuts:
“For as long as we’ve been tracking this inflation data, folks have been saying that the cure for inflation is unemployment. The big story from 2023 is that was false.
“Inflation has been cooling for 18 months now off its peak and in every single one of those 18 months, unemployment has come in below 4%. I’m looking for the Fed to get out of our way and start rate cuts before we get more softening in the labor market. That’s the biggest risk we face right now.”
Watch Lindsay Owens on CNBC’s Squawk Box here and read additional excerpts from the interview below.
EXCERPTS FROM CNBC’s SQUAWK BOX
“Historically, one of the big problems the Fed has faced is a higher for too long approach. I don’t think we want to repeat those mistakes. I would be more concerned about staying the course and keeping rates too high.”
“The last mile on inflation is housing. The last thing you want when you want to bring housing costs down, which is ultimately a supply issue, is a high interest rate environment.”
“We also want rates coming down to accelerate some of the investments we want to see in clean energy. The Biden administration put a huge amount of financing on the table for clean energy investments and not all of those pencil out in a high interest rate environment.”