2 weeks Ago By HuffPost
The Wall Street Journal is calling out President Donald Trump ’s threat to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for refusing to cut interest rates as Trump has repeatedly demanded. The newspaper’s editorial board said that the problem isn’t interest rates. It’s Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs — a recipe for higher inflation and slower growth that has caused markets to plunge and investors to worry.
The editorial board wrote: The scathing editorial comes after the White House said on Friday it was looking for ways to remove Powell, and Trump on Monday repeated his demand that Powell cut interest rates. “Cue the meltdown in stocks, bonds and the dollar, a trifecta of declining confidence,” the newspaper said after the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged nearly 1,000 points. The chair of the Federal Reserve is supposed to be insulated from day-to-day politics, and it’s not clear if Trump can fire him.
Most observers believe he cannot. But even if he succeeded, the Journal pointed out that the chair doesn’t set policy alone. There are 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee, and Trump can’t fire them.
The Journal urged Trump to take a simpler way out. “Smart Presidents pay attention to market signals and adapt. The adaptation now would be to negotiate a quick end to the tariff barrage.
Claim some trade-deal victories, and call it a day,” the board wrote. “But markets are spooked because they don’t know if Mr. Trump listens to anyone but his own impulses.
” Read the full editorial here..
