The Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates this week was a surprise to … well, nobody. The US central bank, like many of its peers, had telegraphed the decision for weeks as it made inroads containing inflation and now seeks to prevent a wider slowdown in the economy. Even for an institution marked by its independence, the timing is a bit awkward. The Fed’s first rate cut in four years arrived near the climax of a US presidential contest that may hinge on how voters feel about the economy as they express exasperation with higher prices and the higher borrowing costs helping bring inflation to heel. “The risk is that cutting rates will improve the economy and it will look to a lot of people, a lot of bystanders, a lot of lay people, like the Fed is trying to improve the economy before the election to help one of the candidates win,” says Christina Parajon Skinner, an associate professor at the Wharton School. Also notable, the Fed went big, opting for a jumbo-sized half-point reduction instead of a more modest 25-basis-point move. Now, for Fed watchers and traders, the question is what’s next.

The Fed’s projections — known as the dot plot — show only a narrow majority favor lowering rates by at least an additional half-point this year. All of this is part of the Fed’s plans to bring the US economy in for that coveted soft-landing, defeating pandemic-spurred inflation once and for all without a big hit to the labor market. Of course, either political party should be happy for the achievement — but this is politics and there are plenty of other potential bumps in the road. “The reddest light is the deficit, which is now 6% of gross domestic product,” writes Adrian Wooldridge for Bloomberg Opinion. “At some point the markets are likely to intervene and administer a painful electric shock.”

Who is Kamala Harris, and what would she do as president? She has precious little time to tell voters, who say they want to know more from her. She’s largely avoided interviews but appeared at an A-list town hall hosted by Oprah Winfrey in the crucial swing state of Michigan. Harris broke little new ground, though she defended stricter gun laws and also her right to use hers for protection. “If someone breaks in my house, they’re getting shot,” she said. While maintaining a slight edge in national polls, she’s turning her attention to Hispanic voters to shore up support. Donald Trump blamed her and President Joe Biden for “highly inflammatory language” that he said inspired the assassination attempt outside his golf course in Florida. “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at,” he said, though in this case a Secret Service agent spotted a gun allegedly held by Ryan Routh, 58,  before he fired any shots. The apparent second attempt on Trump’s life continued to raise concerns about political violence in the US. “All of our political leaders need to turn down the temperature, and focus on issues, not rage,” Barbara L. McQuade writes in Bloomberg Opinion.

Israel weaponized the world’s supply chains, triggering hundreds of pagers encased with explosives used by Hezbollah operatives as its war focus shifts north to Iran’s most powerful proxy. Almost 40 people died over two days of attacks, ratcheting up already hair-trigger tension in the region. How the pagers, licensed by a Taiwanese company to an outfit claiming to be based in Hungary, were laced with explosives and went to Hezbollah undetected remains a mystery. The question is whether Israel carried out the attack as a warning to head off a war with Hezbollah or whether this indicates it’s ready for one now, Marc Champion writes in Bloomberg Opinion. “Here’s why we should hope this was a warning shot,” he writes: “the dismal performance of Israel’s government at the higher, strategic level.” On Friday, Israel launched a strike that killed Ibrahim Aqil, a senior Hezbollah commander wanted by the US for the 1983 bombings of the US embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut. 

A photo taken in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers. Photographer: AFP

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and his administration are under increasing investigative pressure: He lost two key allies within a span of days as authorities probe his inner circle, amid record-low poll numbers a year before he seeks reelection. They included his top legal counsel and the police commissioner, Edward Caban, who resigned after federal agents searched his home and seized his phone. Meantime, two former New York Fire Department officials were charged with bribery and corruption. Adams’ administration is embroiled in four separate federal probes.

Kratom, a botanical compound used for centuries in Southeast Asia, has taken hold in America, where it’s widely available at bars and convenience stories. Use of its leaves appear safe even at high doses when taken in capsule form, a first US study finds, though the results represent the “tip of the iceberg” of what is needed to know, one expert says. In the global agriculture sector, AI-powered advancements are promising to curb the use of weed-control sprays by as much as 90%. And then there are the animals: This week’s episode of The Future with Hannah Fry, Professor  explores how AI is connecting humans with the natural world. 

Basketball legend Michael Jordan has found a buyer for his ultra-custom mansion in suburban Chicago after more than a decade on the market. The 19-bathroom, 32,000-square-foot property underwent a series of price cuts and was listed for $14.9 million. Indian apparel tycoon Harish Ahuja paid £21 million ($27 million) for a home in London’s Notting Hill, marking one of this year’s biggest UK residential deals this year. His son Anand Ahuja and Bollywood star daughter-in-law Sonam Kapoor plan to use the property. 

Anand Ahuja and Sonam Kapoor Photographer: ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP

• UN General Assembly, with Biden’s final speech there, Iran’s new president. 
• UK's Labor Party’s first annual conference in government in 15 years.
• Voting in Germany’s Brandenburg, anti-immigration forces at play.
• Sri Lankan elections amid recovery from its economic crisis.
• The EU could vote on tariffs on EVs imported from China.
• Trump’s tariff plan won’t balance the US budget. 

A great deal of the global economy relies on Americans opening their wallets. But inflation, unsustainable debt and wage stagnation have economists worried they could be running out of steam. In the Bloomberg Originals mini-documentary, Is the American Consumer Tapped Out?, we analyze the reasons the US spending machine may be slowing and what that might do to Fed Chair Powell’s plans for a soft landing. 

Photographer: Peter Cade/Getty Images