Opinion | The Great Interest Rate Debate

Peter Coy: Hi, Paul. The Fed meets Tuesday and Wednesday to talk about interest rates, which many voters are really frustrated about. In the past few Times Opinion focus groups, we’ve had voters across the ideological spectrum express high concern about rates. You can also see it in the latest University of Michigan surveys of consumers. Inflation haunted many Americans, and now interest rates bedevil them in a different way. People are saying high rates make it hard to buy a home or car or deal with debts. They’re worried about how high rates may affect their children. Some say they were promised that rates would go down, and they’re losing patience. Some are blaming President Biden and saying things were better under Donald Trump. Polls show voters trust Trump over Biden on the economy.

I get some of this but not all of it. What do you think?

Paul Krugman: Hi, Peter. We eventually need to get into the underlying economics — why are interest rates high, and will they stay…