I'm still waiting for some sort of reference about interest rates directly impacting layoff decisions. You can make claims as much as you want but that isn't evidence that you're correct about interest rates being the cause of layoffs
If you do understand that higher interest rates suppress higher risk investments, then there's a direct line between that and slowing VC funding and depressed investor sentiment, which is ultimately what's feeding these layoffs.
The indirect link is not always true. Interest rates can be risen in a bull market. When done slowly, this effect is less pronounced. In this case, we massively shifted rates in a short amount of time during a period of high inflation.
You say all of this about economics like the field isn't one of the worst verified "scientific" fields out there
Public markets operate on opinions and feelings more than science. That sentiment of the markets is not high right now is clear. Look at every publicly traded tech company’s performance in the last 12 months.
That's nonsense. Do you understand what the scientific method is?
I believe you also understood precisely what I meant, and are trying to form a gotcha.
In any case, I’ve lost the plot on your point here. That interest rates impact spending and corporate decisions is verifiable fact, using the ever-elusive scientific method which you’ve so helpfully educated me about. If you truly believe in this method, I’d suggest you exercise it and watch how interest rate changes shift economies and markets every time they happen in history. It just so happens to be precisely the exact reason why the Fed moves them in the first place. It was widely discussed when rates began rising that the impact would likely be an increase in unemployment. The Fed specifically addressed this point, and stated that while it was not an explicit goal to increase it in this case, it may happen.