Above: The movers and the shakers at the White House...
It was only a matter of time, I suppose, before Comrade Stupid decided to attack Jerome Powell, the Fed Chairman, you know, if nothing else than for the sake of form.
As many economists observed, the Billions for Billionaires Bill was going to stimulate the already booming economy and ultimately lead towards inflation, and one of the Fed’s bi-polar charter is that it must stop inflation at all costs (the other is that it must increase employment, so very schizophrenic). Powell is by law doing just that, and raised the interest rates accordingly, and Comrade Trump went full balls-out hammer-down mad-monkey terror dome crazy and attacked the Fed.
This is not normal:
China, the European Union and others have been manipulating their currencies and interest rates lower, while the U.S. is raising rates while the dollars gets stronger and stronger with each passing day – taking away our big competitive edge. As usual, not a level playing field…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2018
….The United States should not be penalized because we are doing so well. Tightening now hurts all that we have done. The U.S. should be allowed to recapture what was lost due to illegal currency manipulation and BAD Trade Deals. Debt coming due & we are raising rates – Really?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2018
Axios’ morning email thingie tells us:
The trade war between the U.S. and other countries is shifting into a currency war. This is the second time this week Trump has roiled currency markets with comments about Fed policy. The dollar fell shortly after Trump’s tweets.
“In a stinging and historically rare criticism, President Donald Trump expressed frustration with the Federal Reserve and said the central bank could disrupt the economic recovery.
“I’m not thrilled,” he told CNBC’s Joe Kernen in an interview to air in full Friday starting at 6 A.M. ET on Squawk Box. “Because we go up and every time you go up they want to raise rates again. I don’t really—I am not happy about it. But at the same time I’m letting them do what they feel is best. But I don’t like all of this work that goes into doing what we’re doing.”
And so some poor bastard in the White House who was on babysitting duty had to instantly respond:
*WHITE HOUSE SAYS TRUMP ISN’T INTERFERFERING WITH FED DECISIONS
*WHITE HOUSE SAYS TRUMP `RESPECTS THE INDEPENDENCE’ OF FEDOk.
— Julie Hyman (@juleshyman) July 19, 2018
The “Ok” makes it art.
The Federal Reserve is allegedly an independent agency, but we’re waiting for Comrade Stupid to call Powell into an intimate dinner and demand a Comey-like loyalty oath any day now.
crossposted from Mock Paper Scissors
