- Jerome Powell has been clear that the Fed’s decision on the base rate is independent of political feeling. But Wilbur Ross, President Trump’s former commerce secretary, told Fortune that the president’s threats toward Powell may be reinforcing the Fed’s reluctance to cut rates. The FOMC has an unwinnable dilemma: Even if it wants to base its decision solely on the data it may unconsciously be influenced by politics.
Despite insistence from President Trump that the base interest rate should be cut, it seems the policy and rhetoric out of the White House itself may the very reason why the Fed can’t wield the axe.
