The first cut is the deepest. Clamoring for a rate cut—the first in more than a decade—by the Federal Reserve at some point this year is running hot. A survey by the Wall Street Journal earlier in the week signaled that nearly 40% of economists (paywall) polled by the publication expect the U.S. central bank to ease monetary policy next month. The chief economist Joe Davis of Vanguard, the fund provider that manages some $5.4 trillion of wealth, speculated that an “insurance” rate cut by Jerome Powell’s Fed could arrive as early as Wednesday, at the conclusion of the central bank’s two-day policy gathering that kicks ... (full story)