WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

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1/ The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the 10th time in just over a year but signaled that it could be done lifting rates. The quarter percentage point increase brings its benchmark rate to between 5 and 5.25% – the highest level in 16 years. Although inflation has cooled since last year’s peak of 7% to 4.2% as of March, it’s still more than double the Fed’s target of 2%. Economists at the Fed, meanwhile, are projecting a mild recession later this year. (Wall Street Journal / CNBC / Bloomberg / NPR / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post)

2/ Mexico agreed to accept non-Mexican migrants and asylum-seekers deported by the U.S. when pandemic-era border restrictions end. In a joint statement, Mexico said it will accept up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela for “humanitarian” reasons once the Title 42 restrictions expire on May 11. Since March 2020, Title 42 was used to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants without giving them a chance to seek asylum. (CBS News / ABC News / Washington Post / Associated Press)

3/ Trump will not call any witnesses to rebut E. Jean Carroll’s account of him raping and defaming her. Attorney Joseph Tacopina said Trump would not testify in the civil case because he was in Scotland to break ground on a new golf course, and the one expert witness he planned to call is unable to testify due to a health issue. The jury instead saw a videotape of Trump’s deposition, which included footage from the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump brags about groping and kissing women without their consent. (CNBC / USA Today / New York Times)

4/ New York state banned natural gas and other fossil fuels in most new buildings – the first such law in the country. The new law will take effect in 2026 for buildings seven stories and shorter, and in 2029 for all other buildings. The ban on new natural gas hookups helps the state meet its goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which calls for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050. (Washington Post / Wall Street Journal /