On the eve of the Fed deciding how much they'll shave off current interest rates as inflation finally cools, Guy Williams, president of the Gulf Coast Bank, joined WWL's Newell Normand on Monday to discuss it.
Williams thinks they'll shave 50 basis points, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote a letter requesting 75 -- something Williams said would signify the economy is in deep trouble -- and it brought up the question: Should politicians be weighing in on interest rates?
"Elizabeth Warren is one of those people that is often wrong but never uncertain," Williams said. "And yeah, I would deeply discount almost everything she says economically. And it really is it is improper for politicians to get involved with the Federal Reserve."
He added, "I'd say the politicians are doing what they always do, you know, left, right and center. They want lower rates. The Fed is doing a pretty good job of ignoring the politics. And I hope that they are indeed engineering the soft landing. That really would be better for the economy, for all of us."
When it comes to inflation and wages and how they impact New Orleans, Williams said the city has two big things in favor of its hospitality-driven economy. "We've got the Taylor Swift concerts, which are a big, big economic deal that should fill all the hotels, restaurants and bars. And then the Super Bowl. And to the extent that those do, and to the extent that we're able to bump wages for the servers and all the people in the hospitality industry, that's a great thing for New Orleans and something that I think will happen over the next 4 to 6 months," he said.
Still, Louisiana lost 11,000 people last year while Florida and Texas are gaining a thousand a day.
Williams blamed hurricanes, inefficient government, and the complex tax system for the fact Louisiana isn't growing. And the federal government isn't any better. Newell said we could cut 30% of the federal government and "I don't know that we would miss a blip."
"It's just it's kind of mind boggling to me how large that we've got, how many new agencies have been created," he said. "The regulatory side in this country is has run amok. You know, you can't move a rock that's 18in in diameter from the bank of a stream without getting a permit. I mean, it's almost to the point of being ridiculous these days, and it just seems to get larger and larger and larger."
Spending on defense, on health care, and in many other sectors is out of control, he added. And the idea that we can just cut taxes on the middle class and add taxes to billionaires to cover all of it just isn't true, he said.
"You know, we're going to make Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett pay for everything. And what people don't realize is the very rich people could only cover the deficit for one year and then they're out of money," Williams said. "And when you when voters when voters are told by politicians, don't worry about a thing, we're just going to tax the billionaires. That's not really true. And unfortunately, the fact checking has been a little weak on that."
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