Analysis: Incumbent U.S. presidents or ruling party challengers won five of the six election years when the Fed cut rates
The Odaily Planet Daily reported that the Federal Reserve this week decided to cut interest rates by 50 basis points, marking the central bank's most aggressive easing cycle in nearly half a century, just ahead of the US presidential election. Except for two presidential election years, the Federal Reserve has changed interest rates since 1972, and the Federal Reserve's actions have generally been divided into rate hikes and rate cuts. The Federal Reserve's policy rate has risen in 5 election years and fallen in 6 election years. In most cases, these changes have been part of a cycle that began a year or more before the election year. In the 5 election years when rates rose, the incumbent president or the party controlling the White House won re-election 4 times. Meanwhile, in the 6 election years when rates fell, the challenger to the incumbent president or the ruling party won 5 times.
