The End of the Federal Reserve as We Know It?

September 26, 2024, Opinion: "Donald Trump attacked the Federal Reserve throughout his presidency, complaining about interest-rate increases and lobbing insults at Chairman Jerome Powell. In his bid to regain the office, he has renewed those attacks while demanding that as president he get a direct say in setting interest rates, though he has partially backed off from that statement.  Trump has every reason to be worried about the Fed: If he follows through on his campaign promises of across-the-board tariffs and large tax cuts, the result would be upward pressure on inflation that would force the Federal Reserve to set interest rates higher than they otherwise would have been. Fortunately, the Federal Reserve’s independence makes it unlikely that Trump will succeed in his plans were he to win another term. Unfortunately, “unlikely” is not as reassuring as “impossible” when talking about America’s most functional and important economic institution. Moreover, the most worrying possibility is that Trump would simply be initiating what could be the beginning of the end of the Fed as we know it—a process that could be completed by his successors from either party."