“I’m firmly committed to accountability for those responsible for this mess. No one is above the law,” the president said.The University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment tumbled 5.4 per cent this month from February, the first fall in four months. [“This month’s decrease was already fully realised prior to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, at which time about 85 per cent of our interviews for this preliminary release had been completed.
Long-run inflation expectations edged down to 2.8 per cent, falling below the narrow 2.9-3.1 per cent range for only the second time in the last 20 months.: “The point of rate hikes is to cool demand. If bank troubles cool demand, you don’t need those rate hikes. If you like, monetary policy is operating through an additional channel — probably mostly commercial real estate — so rates don’t need to go as high.