Steve Forbes says the Fed's stubborn rate hikes are trashing the US economy

• The Federal Reserve is trashing the economy with its aggressive rate hikes, according to Steve Forbes.
• "They're pursuing policies that will make the economy worse," the CEO of Forbes told Fox Business.

The Federal Reserve's stubborn rate hikes are trashing the economy, according to Steve Forbes.

"The Federal Reserve continues its policy, trying to trash the economy. They're pursuing policies that will make the economy worse," the editor-in-chief of Forbes Magazine told Fox Business on Thursday.

"You got not only banks that are shaky. I don't think there will be too many more, but countries are in trouble. You've got companies in trouble," Forbes added.

The central bank lifted its benchmark rate to a 4.75%-5% range Wednesday as it storms ahead with its fight against inflation.

The decision came after weeks of uncertainty about how the Fed might respond to the recent banking turmoil, which saw the implosions of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank in the US, and the government-backed takeover of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse by UBS in Switzerland.

Forbes not only slated the Fed, however. He sliced into Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as she flip-flops on blanket coverage for all US bank deposits.

"They don't know what they're doing. On the one hand, they don't want to be accused of bailouts. On the other hand, they want to reassure markets they're there to back up the banking system. That confusion makes things worse," Forbes said.

Yellen has chopped and changed her stance on whether regulators will safeguard US deposits as banking jitters rock smaller and mid-sized lenders. On Thursday, she told lawmakers that regulators "would be prepared to take additional actions if warranted" to protect the banking system. Her remarks came a day after she said they were not considering a blanket insurance for all bank deposits.