Opposition is brewing within America’s central bank.
The Fed didn’t raise key interest rates on Wednesday. But the vote wasn’t unanimous. Three Fed presidents voted the opposite way — a rare amount of opposition, and the most in nearly two years.
Typically, almost all its officials vote in line with Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Now, dissent is rising.
“This seems to have been one of the most divisive [Fed] meetings in recent memory,” says Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, a research firm. The last time there were three dissenters was in December 2014.
The U.S. central bank has come under a lot of criticism lately by Wall Street for the fact that many of its officials give speeches that send wildly conflicting messages. Some leaders argue for raising rates, and others make the case against a rate hike. It confuses investors.
