As promised, FedFin starts with this report to advise clients on the strategic impact of this most startling U.S. election. We will be issuing a series of client reports, starting today with one focused on the shape of financial-policy personnel in a Trump Administration and following up shortly with another on the near-term implications as the Congressional lame-duck session begins next week. We will then turn to longer-term policy questions such as the shape of U.S. financial regulation, the future of housing finance, and the independence and actions of the Federal Reserve. As many have said, personnel is policy. This in our view and it is true if one tempers judgment with understanding of the role staff play advising policy-makers on issues below the highest-level ones on which office-holders have strong personal views and/or the White House weighs in. External events also have a habit of dictating policy regardless of the reality office-holders might prefer. With that said, we note in this report how agencies subject to the change at the White House will restructure after the inauguration and the impact the election has even on agencies nominally immune from direct political influence.
The full report is available to retainer clients. To find out how you can sign up for the service, click here.