Who Will Safeguard Fed Independence?: Sara Binder & Mark Spindel

If you thought President Donald Trump roughed up the Federal Reserve in Season 1, just wait for Season 2. During his first term, Trump repeatedly bullied the Fed, demanding lower interest rates despite a strong economy and stable prices. Now he is again demanding lower interest rates , just as the Fed appears to be hitting pause on rate cuts, and even before he took office he engineered the demotion of Michael Barr, the Fed’s top banking cop, and questioned the judgment of Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Trump’s interventions will supercharge political pressure on the Fed at the same time ...