The Federal Reserve’s “explicit focus is more than ever on shielding the US against threats to the business cycle”, argued Thomas Costerg, senior US economist at Pictet Wealth Management.

It believes its mission is to keep a “recession at bay”, even if all its policies achieve is to keep debt cheap for a while longer. 

Currently, the main risks that the Fed sees are President Trump’s “erratic trade policy” and the weakening global growth picture, explained Mr Costerg.

Usually, low Fed interest rates drip down to the corporate sector, as low borrowing costs help to prevent a debt service-in...