Powell came into 2025 on the heels of three end-of-year rate cuts in 2024, leading many to hope more cuts were coming. Instead, he pressed pause for fear that further rate cuts, as President Trump's higher-than-expected tariffs took effect, would lead to runaway inflation similar to that of 2021.The Federal Reserve has never had it easy. Its dual mandate of low unemployment and low inflation sounds simple enough. However, those goals often conflict with one another. Raising rates slows inflation, but it als ...