History will judge the Federal Reserve's decision to cut its discount rate by 50 basis points favourably, according to Jeffrey Lacker, the president of the Richmond Fed.

The Fed cut the primary credit discount rate - the charge imposed on banks for short-term borrowing from regional Feds' discount windows - on 17 August . Its lowering allowed commercial banks struggling to find credit from other financial institutions, whose charges typically follow the benchmark federal funds rate, to lend for