Trump vs Powell escalates (PHOTO: WIKI COMMONS/ FLICKR)
On Tuesday, October 28, US President Donald Trump indicated that there were many names on the list of the people who would succeed the Federal Reserve, criticizing current chairman Jerome Powell whose term was expired in May.
Donald Trump has already declared, “We have an incompetent head of the Fed… we got a bad Fed guy, but he’ll be out of there a few months, and we’ll get somebody new.”
Trump told the heads of business at a dinner in Tokyo during his one-week trip to Asia.
The head of the US central bank is rare in wielding as much influence on the financial markets and the world economy at large. Even a couple of words spoken by the Fed chair can cause markets and billions of dollars to move. It is a position of such consequence that even President Donald Trump has thought about assuming it himself.
Trump has not been secret in his aversion toward Fed Chair Jerome Powell whose tenure expires in May. Trump has at one time mentioning that he would terminate Powell or make him step down; criticized him as the Federal Reserve failed to reduce interest rates; and requested the Fed Board of Governors to remove him. At last, Trump now gets a chance to restructure the central bank according to his vision and he is taking it.
Trump is projected to identify his candidate to replace him by December. It would be the first time a nominee to the Fed chair is announced by any president prior to the incumbent stepping down.
The latter may lead to a situation where months will be filled with competing accounts of the US economy, where Powell would be the voice behind Trump nominee, who would be seen as the shadow Fed chair.
The head of the search by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who interviewed about a dozen candidates over Labor Day, told Monday that he had shortened it down to five. Their backgrounds incorporate the White House, Fed and the private sector.
The discussions are still dynamic, as sources with knowledge of the issue claim, and the choice is ultimately on Trump.
Trump has to fill the role of the chairman, who will then be vetted by the Republican Senate, and head the central bank as it balances competing priorities following the all-encompassing economic policies of the administration that increased the chances of high inflation and poor economic growth. The Fed policy makers are now split on the impact of the Trump policies on the economy.
ALSO READ: Netanyahu says Israel to decide which international forces in Gaza acceptable
Legendary filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead…
Stock Market Today: Indian markets opened lower amid weak global cues and AI-led Wall Street…
Rob Reiner, Wife Michele Found Dead With Knife Wounds At LA Home, Police Launches Homicide Probe
Hollywood was shaken after two bodies were found at director Rob Reiner’s Brentwood home. The…
