“American exceptionalism” has meant different things at different points in time. At heart, the belief that there’s something distinct and unique about America goes back hundreds of years, arguably to the Puritans of the Massachusetts colony who believed their “city upon a hill” was a kind of model society for the world. This concept was revived throughout the years, notably by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s as he, along with Margaret Thatcher, advanced a distinctive version of “free market capitalism.” The remarkable performance of U.S. stock markets coming out of the pandemic has been a striking example where America really has been exceptional, far outperforming the rest of the world in the 2020s.
Both of these are under threat as a result of President Trump’s escalating efforts to bring the Federal Reserve under his direct control, according to a new warning from investment bank Piper Sandler. “The U.S. is moving away from free markets, limited government, and the rule of law at an astonishing pace,” the bank writes, taking aim at a range of actors beyond the president to indict a complacent Congress and even markets themselves. “We are watching the pillars of the long bull market being removed one by one,” the bank warns, adding that the crisis goes far beyond Trump’s unprecedented attempt to fire a Fed governor.
