Should presidents have more of a say in interest rates?

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2024

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

Former President Donald Trump recently suggested that if elected in this year's presidential election he would want more say on decisions made by the Federal Reserve. Presidents taking a more active role in monetary policy would mark an extraordinary shift in U.S. economic institutions, and mark the end of central bank independence.

Today on the show, why the Federal Reserve insulates itself from day-to-day politics, and what it looks like when central banks are influenced by politicians.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR. At his press conference last week, former President Donald Trump talked about his dream relationship
0:17.6	with the US Central Bank, the Federal Reserve.
0:20.8	I feel the President should have at least say in there. Yeah, I feel that strongly. I think that in my case I made a lot of money I was very successful and I think I have a better
0:30.1	instinct than in many cases people that would be on the Federal Reserve or
0:34.2	the Chairman.
0:35.2	Presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, Kamala Harris, though, had a rather different
0:39.8	tape.
0:40.8	The Fed is an independent entity and as president I would never interfere in the decisions that the Fed makes.
0:47.0	All right, a fight over economics. This sounds like a case for the indicator.
0:51.0	This is the indicator from Planet Money and Jerry Woods.
0:57.0	And I'm Gumshu Whelan Wong.
0:58.6	Today on the show, an age-old tension, the Federal Reserve versus the President.
1:04.2	We explain how Central Banks around the world became independent and why most economists
1:09.2	wanted to stay that way.
1:11.2	Support for this podcast and the following message come from Wise, the app that makes
1:18.4	managing your money in different currencies easy. With Wise you can send and spend money internationally at the mid-market exchange
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1:32.1	WISE.com.
1:33.0	On the Ted Radio Hour, MIT Psychologist Sherry Turkle,
1:38.0	her latest research into the intimate relationships
1:41.0	people are having with chatbots.
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	...

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