Trumps erratic behavior hasn't made Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's job any easier
Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images “How do we know what you are going to do next and why, now?” asked CNBC economics reporter Steve Liesman, a few questions into Wednesday’s press conference with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
First of all, he and the other members of the Federal Open Market Committee can never know what they will do about interest rates in the future, because those decisions can and should be based on future data and events. He doesn’t know how the economy will do in the next three months, so he can’t say whether another interest rate cut will be appropriate in the next three months.
Powell repeatedly emphasized today that the overall economic outlook is positive. In fact, a key undertone of his remarks was that the economy is generally good, except for a few specific things that Trump is screwing up, and the future trajectory of interest rates will have to depend on the degree to which Trump screws them up going forward.“We play no role in assessing or evaluating trade policies other than as trade policy uncertainty has an effect on the U.S.
Powell, perhaps in response to presidential complaints that the Fed has been failing to buttress the economy, pointed to that chain of moves to argue that the Fed had already been bolstering economic growth by giving businesses and consumers confidence to invest, spend, and grow — counteracting presidential actions that would tend to hamper growth.
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