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I feel bad for the Fed folks because they were stuck in a terrible position. Their options were basically: Don't do anything - "Fed won't save us!" Do someth

I feel bad for the Fed folks because they were stuck in a terrible position. Their options were basically: Don't do anything - "Fed won't save us!" Do something as scheduled (March 18) - "wow, we already priced this in and that's really all they're doing?" Do something ahead of schedule (Sunday rate cut) - "they're panicking! They have no other tools left! I thought the Fed was supposed to be independent of the President!"

thawaway1837 7y ago
The Fed lost its independence at least a year ago, since the President has maintained a sustained and public campaign to pressure them. But the real issue here is that people don’t see this as a monetary issue and the fiscal side is dependent on an administration that has only just come around to recognizing it as a problem after having spent weeks trying to minimize it and actively discourage steps to reduce the impact of COVID 19.
- bluGill 7y ago
  Your first paragraph has been said by various people for various reasons for at least the last 10 years.
  - ardy42 7y ago
    >> The Fed lost its independence at least a year ago, since the President has maintained a sustained and public campaign to pressure them. > Your first paragraph has been said by various people for various reasons for at least the last 10 years. It's truer now that it's ever been: Yesterday: Trump Says He Could Demote Fed Chair Powell, Risking More Market Turmoil (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/business/economy/trump-powell-fed-chair.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/business/economy/trump-po...) Today: Trump congratulates Fed for rates cut, calls action 'terrific' (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-central-banks-trum-idUSKBN2121B6 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-centra...)
  - thawaway1837 7y ago
    The difference being no other president in at least the past 3 decades has publicly tried to influence the Fed. I’m sure every president has done so privately. Doing it publicly is not the same thing. There’s also the fact that no other president did so during a boom cycle. That was new as well. It’s possible Obama and Bush tried to influence Bernanke and Greenspan. But it’s definite Trump did so. I only need to look at his twitter history to confirm that.
- Ididntdothis 7y ago
  The Fed lost a lot of credibility in the 2000s. I still remember how Bernanke constantly claimed that things were ok right until they blew up in 2008. Since then they seemed to be mainly a tool of the political and financial classes that easily gets intimidated by pressure from people like Trump . They probably lost credibility even earlier when they allowed the hero worship around Greenspan who turned out to be just a hack.
  - thawaway1837 7y ago
    Credibility isn’t the same as perceived independence.
- whatshisface 7y ago
  >since the President has maintained a sustained and public campaign to pressure them. Has the President done anything other than verbally push them around? Can he do anything else?
apta 7y ago
> I feel bad for the Fed folks Don't. The entire financial structure is based on parasitic and immoral practices that people have known about for thousands of years now (charging usury, aka "interest", comes to mind). The unfortunate thing is that the average person is going to end up paying for all this, while the very rich benefitting from it are barely affected.

thawaway1837 7y ago

The Fed lost its independence at least a year ago, since the President has maintained a sustained and public campaign to pressure them. But the real issue here is that people don’t see this as a monetary issue and the fiscal side is dependent on an administration that has only just come around to recognizing it as a problem after having spent weeks trying to minimize it and actively discourage steps to reduce the impact of COVID 19.

bluGill 7y ago
Your first paragraph has been said by various people for various reasons for at least the last 10 years.
- ardy42 7y ago
  >> The Fed lost its independence at least a year ago, since the President has maintained a sustained and public campaign to pressure them. > Your first paragraph has been said by various people for various reasons for at least the last 10 years. It's truer now that it's ever been: Yesterday: Trump Says He Could Demote Fed Chair Powell, Risking More Market Turmoil (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/business/economy/trump-powell-fed-chair.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/business/economy/trump-po...) Today: Trump congratulates Fed for rates cut, calls action 'terrific' (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-central-banks-trum-idUSKBN2121B6 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-centra...)
- thawaway1837 7y ago
  The difference being no other president in at least the past 3 decades has publicly tried to influence the Fed. I’m sure every president has done so privately. Doing it publicly is not the same thing. There’s also the fact that no other president did so during a boom cycle. That was new as well. It’s possible Obama and Bush tried to influence Bernanke and Greenspan. But it’s definite Trump did so. I only need to look at his twitter history to confirm that.
Ididntdothis 7y ago
The Fed lost a lot of credibility in the 2000s. I still remember how Bernanke constantly claimed that things were ok right until they blew up in 2008. Since then they seemed to be mainly a tool of the political and financial classes that easily gets intimidated by pressure from people like Trump . They probably lost credibility even earlier when they allowed the hero worship around Greenspan who turned out to be just a hack.
- thawaway1837 7y ago
  Credibility isn’t the same as perceived independence.
whatshisface 7y ago
>since the President has maintained a sustained and public campaign to pressure them. Has the President done anything other than verbally push them around? Can he do anything else?

apta 7y ago

> I feel bad for the Fed folks Don't. The entire financial structure is based on parasitic and immoral practices that people have known about for thousands of years now (charging usury, aka "interest", comes to mind). The unfortunate thing is that the average person is going to end up paying for all this, while the very rich benefitting from it are barely affected.