Trump’s visit to today may not follow the history of a president who supports independence

The president will visit the central bank at 4pm on Thursday and will return to the White House in about an hour, following his public schedule.

This movement is unusual for several reasons. This is mainly because the president has visited the central bank for the first time in nearly 20 years, and is only his fourth visit from an oval office in history.

As President Trump and his Cabinet, the context of this visit also raises eyebrows Since winning the Oval Office in January, it has been criticizing the Fed for continuing lobbying.

In the past, a president’s visit to the Fed has been viewed as support for the Fed as a whole, either by the then chairman.

For example, my last visit came from George W. Bush on February 6, 2006. He attended the oath ceremony of his candidate, Ben S. Bernanke, and was present as the 14th Chair of the Fed.

Bush attendees were seen as support not only of Bernanke but also of the independent nature of the Fed. When announcing his nominationBush told reporters in the oval office: “In our economy, the Fed is an independent institution that sets monetary policy, oversees the integrity of the banking system, reduces the risks that may arise in financial markets, and ensures a working payment system.

“Around the world, the Fed is a symbol of the integrity and reliability of our financial system, and the Fed’s decisions affect the lives and livelihoods of all Americans.”

A recent example of a president who visited the Fed prior to Bush’s visit was President Gerald Ford in July 1975. This was done for a sworn ceremony where the central bank’s independence was praised.

Speaking under the oath of Philip C. Jackson as a member of the Governor’s Committee; President Ford said: “The essence of the Federal Reserve system is independence. The independence of both Congress and the President, and the individual independence of the ideas of each governor. I respect that independence firmly and completely.”

The final example – but the first visit of this kind appeared in 1937 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt attended the opening of the new headquarters of the board, the Ecles building that President Trump is likely to visit today.

So far, Trump vs. Fed

Even before Trump won the election, there were signs that could cause trouble for Chairman Jerome Powell. He poses a veiled threat to the safety of the role of the chairman. he I told Bloomberg: “I will let him serve (his term) especially if I think he is doing the right thing.”

At the time, the “right thing” in Trump’s mind was not to cut interest rates as encouraged by the economy and the then Biden administration.

Since joining the Oval Office in January, that demand has reversed to other extremes. Trump was called Powell “Silly” and “Hard Head” Add what he knows to avoid reducing the base rate More about interest rates than the Fed boss.

Some market followers may agree with Trump’s take that Powell and the Federal Open Market Committee are responding slowly to economic data, but analysts and investors don’t want central bank independence to be threatened.

So when Trump threatened to fire Powell, the market responded with a tremble and stabilized when the president canceled the proposal. Ultimately, federally mandated independence of the Fed was written in the law to protect it from the whims of politicians and instead mandate it to ensure the long-term health of the economy.

meanwhile Covering Fed policies remains a common theme in the Trump administration (Even yesterday, the president I wrote about the true society “Families are hurt because of too high interest rates, and even in our country we have to pay higher interest rates than we should have because “too late (Powell).” ”), criticism is also lobbying broader decision-making.

This includes management at Powell, the central bank’s office, with Russell Vote, director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. Make a published letter He sent it to the Fed chair, saying that it was “very troubled by the management of the Federal Reserve,” and that the president was linked to “a spectacular overhaul of (federal government’s) Washington, D.C., headquarters.”

Powell then responded.and clearly, some of the points raised in Vought’s letters are, “The project is big… because it includes renovations to two historic buildings at the National Mall, which were first built in the 1930s.

While the Fed is independent of its management and spending, Powell said, “We have reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to transparency in our decisions and to take responsibility for the public.