What the Fed's decision to lower rates says about its shifting priorities.
Plus, why the gap between the rich and the poor in the U.S. is widening again.
And how America's war on fentanyl created an opening for cocaine.
The Jalisco cartel, they reached a deal with their former rivals of the Sinaloa cartel.
And that organization is now using the routes to move the cocaine from Southern Mexico to the U.S.
Southern border.
It's Wednesday, September 17th.
I'm Alex Ocilla for the Wall Street Journal.
This is the PM edition of What's News,
the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.
The Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates by a quarter point, its first cut in nine months.
It also signaled that it would cut rates two more times this year.
In his remarks to reporters,
Fed Chair Jerome Powell highlighted the tension for the Fed's dual mandate goals of maximum employment and stable prices,
and he defended the central bank's pace of change.
Certainly now I feel like our policy has been doing the right thing so far this year.
I think we were right to wait and see how tariffs and inflation and the labor market evolved.
I think we're now reacting to you know,
to the much lower level of job creation and other evidence of softening in the labor market and saying,
well, those risks are maybe not fully balanced, but moving in the direction of balance now.