Black Americans feel disproportionate pain from high interest rates
by Cheyanne M. Daniels and Sylvan Lane
The federal government’s efforts to stanch inflation are disproportionately impacting Black Americans. The Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates in the hopes of cooling off a red-hot economy, but its actions are hitting Black Americans — who have historically been squeezed out of home ownership and affordable loans — the hardest….“The Fed through that period argued that ultra-low interest rates supported household wealth by virtue of allowing people with homes to reduce their cost of housing with refinancing and therefore improve their wealth position. But that turned out not to be anywhere near as true for low and moderate income people, particularly minorities,” said Karen Shaw Petrou, author of “Engine of Inequality: The Fed and the Future of Wealth in America.” “We’ve now had 22 years … of policies that make it harder for lower and moderate income households, especially those of color, to be homeowners.“