It is a fact that President Donald Trump is not pleased with the performance of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He has been open about it, going as far as conceding that he regrets picking Powell to succeed Janet Yellen.
Should Trump get re-elected next year, Powell’s four-year mandate will expire soon after.
Will Trump re-nominate Powell? Unlikely. Actually, the odds of Powell serving another year are about as low as the Baltimore Orioles facing off against the Miami Marlins in the 2019 World Series.
Former Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer agrees, adding that this could threaten the central bank’s autonomy (when was the Fed ever independent of politics?).
Speaking in Israel, Fischer told an audience:
“That will lead to very different monetary policy, so the Fed is not fully independent of politics.
What the president has understood is that he can have a one-way bet by announcing what he thinks they should have done. He has a perfect option and he will use it, and he’s much more sophisticated in the media, I think, than previous presidents have been. It’s not a desirable thing to have the president pronouncing on monetary policy.”
Well, duh!
Leave a Comment