After four years of crushing Americans with inflation, the Federal Reserve is playing games with your money.
The man calling for even more rate cuts just admitted he voted against the last one.
And this Federal Reserve official just made a stunning admission about interest rates that will leave savers furious.
Fed's Goolsbee admits he's flip-flopping on rates while Americans struggle
Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee spent last week telling anyone who'd listen that rates "could come down a fair bit" in 2026 if the economy stays on what he called a "golden path."¹
Never mind that inflation is still at 2.7% — well above the Fed's 2% target — and has been for four and a half years straight.²
Here's the kicker: Goolsbee was one of three Fed officials who just voted against cutting rates in December.³
So which is it? Does he want rates lower or not?
"I'm pretty optimistic that for 2026 rates will be able to be a fair bit lower than they are today," Goolsbee told CNBC on Friday. "But I've just been uncomfortable front-loading too many rate cuts."⁴
Translation: He voted no on Wednesday but is already talking about how great more cuts will be. The man can't make up his mind while your savings account gets destroyed.
The Fed cut rates by 25 basis points in December for the third time this year, dropping the benchmark rate to between 3.5% and 3.75%.⁵
Goolsbee claims he wanted to wait for more data before cutting again.
But the same guy is now out praising Thursday's inflation report and hinting more cuts are coming.
"There was a lot to like in this report, for sure," Goolsbee said Thursday on Fox Business. "If we keep getting reports like this — I realize it's just one month, and you never want to hinge too much on a single month — but that was a good month."⁶
That "good month" he's celebrating? Inflation came in at 2.7% — still 35% above the Fed's target.⁷
Goolsbee's rate-cut obsession ignores four years of pain for savers
Let's talk about what Goolsbee's rate-cutting agenda actually means for regular Americans.
When Biden took office in January 2021, a typical savings account at Chase paid 0.01% interest.
Flash forward to today, and after three rate cuts this year, those rates are already dropping from their peaks.
The people who got destroyed by Biden's inflation — retirees living on fixed incomes, families trying to build emergency funds, anyone who did the responsible thing and saved money — they're the ones who pay the price when the Fed cuts rates.
And Goolsbee wants to cut even more.
"If we get stabilized, full employment and we're on path to 2% inflation, I would be comfortable with rates being a fair bit below where they are today," Goolsbee explained. "I just am uncomfortable front-loading the rate cuts before we're sure that we're actually back headed to 2%."⁸
Notice the word games he's playing? He's "uncomfortable" cutting rates right now, but he's "comfortable" with much lower rates soon.
The Fed has been above its 2% inflation target for four and a half years.
Progress on bringing down inflation has stalled for several months.
And Goolsbee's response is to promise more rate cuts the moment he sees one decent inflation report — one that economists warn might be distorted by the government shutdown that disrupted data collection.⁹
Thursday's inflation data has major credibility problems
About that inflation report Goolsbee is celebrating as a green light for more rate cuts: it's garbage.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics didn't collect any data for October because of the 43-day government shutdown.¹⁰
They only started collecting November data on November 14 — meaning the report covers roughly half the month.¹¹
And economists are already warning that the timing could have captured more Black Friday sales, making prices look artificially low.¹²
"It's possible that this does reflect a genuine drop off in inflationary pressures," Paul Ashworth from Capital Economics admitted. "But such a sudden stop, particularly in the more-persistent services components like rent or shelter is very unusual, at least outside of a recession."¹³
Translation: Nobody trusts these numbers.
But that's not stopping Goolsbee from using them as an excuse to push for lower rates that will hammer savers and potentially reignite inflation.
The Fed cut rates three times this year while inflation remained stuck above 2%. Now Goolsbee wants to do it again in 2026.
Americans who saved responsibly are watching their purchasing power get destroyed while Fed officials play political games with monetary policy.
¹ Kristen Altus, "Fed's Goolsbee says rates 'could come down' if economy stays on 'golden path,'" Fox Business, December 19, 2025.
² "Consumer Price Index – November 2025," Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 18, 2025.
³ Jeff Cox, "Fed interest rate decision December 2025," CNBC, December 10, 2025.
⁴ "Fed's Goolsbee says he's uncomfortable front-loading too many rate cuts," CNBC, December 12, 2025.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Kristen Altus, "Fed's Goolsbee says rates 'could come down' if economy stays on 'golden path,'" Fox Business, December 19, 2025.
⁷ "Consumer Price Index – November 2025," Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 18, 2025.
⁸ Kristen Altus, "Fed's Goolsbee says rates 'could come down' if economy stays on 'golden path,'" Fox Business, December 19, 2025.
⁹ Greg Iacurci, "Here's the inflation breakdown for November 2025 — in one chart," CNBC, December 18, 2025.
¹⁰ "Consumer Price Index Summary – 2025 M11 Results," Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 18, 2025.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Greg Iacurci, "Here's the inflation breakdown for November 2025 — in one chart," CNBC, December 18, 2025.
¹³ Mary Cunningham, "CPI report shows inflation rose at a 2.7% annual pace in November, cooler than expected," CBS News, December 18, 2025.
