After 11 consecutive aggressive rate hikes by the Fed from March 2022 to July 2023, the target range for the U.S. federal funds rate has risen to between 5.25 percent and 5.5 percent. Radhika Desai, visiting professor at the London School of Economics, says high interest rates will suppress market vitality and trigger crises. U.S. interest rates have now reached a high level that resembles that of the 2008 subprime crisis, and "the recession is essentially imminent."