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Top economists back rate rise for Fed, even if it means defying Trump

9/16/2026

The vast bulk of economists surveyed in the Financial Times-Booth poll say the Federal Reserve should lift borrowing costs to bring inflation under control, a reading that places the central bank directly at odds with President Trump.

The FT-Booth poll positions the rate question alongside a harder one: should the Fed act against the president's preferences? The economists surveyed answer yes.

The case for a rise is, as the poll frames it, the inflation argument: borrowing costs should go up because prices need to be tamed. The language the poll uses is deliberate.

A call to "defy" the president signals that respondents see their recommendation as carrying political weight alongside the monetary case. The vast bulk of respondents point in one direction.

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