The Fed’s Political Peril
Last Wednesday, the American Banker quoted me on the politics behind President Biden’s contradictory campaign to demand inflation-stifling policies while at the same time championing Fed independence. The article quoted me accurately, but as I read it, the brevity of my comments made them seem unduly pointed. As in Renaissance Florence, modern-day Washington is awash with nuance. To understand what President Biden meant, one has to watch for the equivalent of a carefully-arched eyebrow or a seemingly-offhand remark. Those I see and hear say that the White House will not hesitate to turn the Fed into the fall guy for inflation and then defenestrate it in political self-defense.