Does politics ever influence Fed's decision-making?
There was a lot of talk from Federal Reserve members from the Kansas City Fed's Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium. One of the questions that keeps arising is about how politics may influence the Fed. Former Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester told Yahoo Finance that "politics does not enter" the Fed's meeting room. Serpa Pinto Advisory Founder Jon Hilsenrath says, "Politics, and in particular former President Donald Trump because he's been so critical of the Fed, is kind of like Voldemort in the Harry Potter series. You don't say the name and you don't speak it out loud. Especially in policy meetings, because officials know that these transcripts are going to be made public within five years. So you don't talk about politics... but it's also kind of hard to ignore." He follows that up with: "I think that the Fed started the year hoping it could get through the end of the year without really making much noise or doing anything, and the data have driven it to where they think now is the time to cut rates, and they're going to do it regardless of the politics." Watch Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's full speech here. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Asking for a Trend. This post was written by Nicholas Jacobino
