Fischer says Trump rate-cut push could destroy Fed independence

Bloomberg/Piotr Skolimowski and Joao Lima/6-18-2019

“Speaking at the European Central Bank Forum in Sintra, Portugal, [Stanley] Fischer said the U.S. economy ‘is doing reasonably well, but you wouldn’t know that if you listen to the president of the United States.’ He said lower borrowing costs would boost employment — in an already strong labor market — but at the cost of a mortal blow to the U.S. central bank.”

USAGOLD note:  At first blush, Fischer’s reaction seems a bit extreme.  In speaking to the same issue, Alan Greenspan has said that presidential pressure on the central bank is nothing new. “The best thing that you can do if you’re in the Fed is put earmuffs on and just don’t listen,” Greenspan said in a CNBC interview last October. “I was at the Fed for 18½ years. I got innumerable notes, pledges, requests, et cetera to lower rates. I do not recall a single instance where somebody in the political realm said we need to raise rates, they’re too low.”