There are two big events that will help define the 2016 presidential race. The first takes place Wednesday night with the second GOP primary debate. The second happens Thursday with the Federal Reserve’s announcement on interest rate policy. Of the two, the Fed’s call is the most important.
Because if Janet Yellen and the central bank make a mistake and move too fast to raise rates—or continue to send mixed messages that markets don’t really understand—it could cause further turmoil and wind up slowing down the U.S. economy in ways that could prove fatal to the Democratic nominee.
Already,leading liberals are pressing Yellen and the Fed hard to wait and not raise their benchmark rate at this week’s meeting, arguing that to do so could cause unemployment to rise again and snuff out nascent gains in workers’ take-home pay.
