The economy is a central focus of the 2024 presidential election. That puts the Federal Reserve's September meeting in sharp focus, especially by the candidates running for the White House.

Former President Donald Trump has said that he thinks the president should have a say in setting interest rate policy.

Former Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester sits down with Yahoo Finance Reporter Jennifer Schonberger to discuss how the Fed will operate despite the result of the election.

When asked about recent comments from Trump about the Fed's independence, Mester says: "I've gone to many, many FOMC meetings. Politics does not enter that room. The Fed is very focused on its dual mandate goals when it's setting monetary policy, and only on its dual mandate goals. And the best thing the Fed can do is what it does all the time, which is take into account what's happening in the economy, what the data is telling you about the outlook for the economy, what the risks are and setting policy based on that to achieve, over time, the dual mandate goals and to maintain it."

She affirms: "In fact, that's important because having an independent monetary policy, everything that you read or research has shown that that actually yields better economic conditions for the country."

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 Wealth!

This post was written by Nicholas Jacobino