Donald Trump is upset about his own decision to tap Jerome Powell as Fed chair, no doubt because he wants an unsustainable economic sugar high that doesn’t end until he’s out of office (i.e., because he doesn’t care about the country or anyone in it).
Powell has been raising interest rates because that’s what Fed chairs do when the economy is like this. They’ve been artificially low for a long time, thanks to the severe economic crash that occurred under our last GOP president. And if we don’t raise them, we’ll have few tools available to address the next recession. Or no tools, since we’re introducing a fiscal stimulus now, instead of down the road when it might actually be needed.
That said, a recent Washington Post story about Trump’s anger at Powell buries the — well, not the lede, exactly; let’s just say it buries the crazy:
During his initial tenure at the Fed, Powell was seen as largely supportive of the slow-but-steady interest rate increase strategy used by then-Chair Janet L. Yellen.
Trump considered reappointing Yellen to the post, and she impressed him greatly during an interview, according to people briefed on their encounter. But advisers steered him away from renominating her, telling him that he should have his own person in the job.
The president also appeared hung up on Yellen’s height. He told aides on the National Economic Council on several occasions that the 5-foot-3-inch economist was not tall enough to lead the central bank, quizzing them on whether they agreed, current and former officials said.
Trump was also initially reluctant to hire John Bolton because he didn’t like his mustache. But apparently Bolton’s unblemished decades-long record of evil eventually won the pr*sident over — and the fact that he looks like Wilford Brimley’s parasitic twin was not nearly as important as his baleful death stare.
So, yeah. Sorry, Janet. You must be this tall to ride Li’l Donny’s economic roller coaster. Better luck next time.
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