As reported in this recent article from WashingtonPost.com:  “The Federal Reserve cut interest rates last week for the first time in four years, putting an end to its longest cycle of rate hikes in roughly a decade. “This will improve the material well-being of all Americans,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM US.  The Fed lowered rates by a half percentage point. Any decrease in the central bank’s benchmark rate will ripple through the stock market, hiring, government bonds, and mortgages and other kinds of loans.  Michael Madowitz, principal economist at the Roosevelt Institute, said the rate cut will be “great news for the middle class.”  “Not only does it underscore the Fed is convinced that inflation is coming under control, it signals the economy has recovered to a faster, sustainable growth trajectory and is ready for further investments in job creation,” Madowitz said Tuesday in comments emailed to The Washington Post. “Lower rates should bring billions more in long-term investments off the sidelines, and create thousands more long-term jobs.”