I had to write my first diary to get this story out, regarding one more way Trump would be a worldwide disaster — and to thank Kai Ryssdal for an outstanding piece of journalism. My apologies for writing quickly, as I need to get back to knocking on doors.
Marketplace is an always-excellent daily half-hour on NPR covering economic news. The format is generally a handful of stories by several reporters exploring timely events or individual businesspersons’ stories, hosted and tied together by Kai (who describes himself as the one who “sets the table”, and brings plain explanations and levity to the dismal science). Yesterday’s was different however: a full and somber half-hour on one topic reported by Kai himself. It was truly astonishing, courageous, and worthy of listening and spreading.
The link to the Marketplace archive is www.marketplace.org/… and pick the October 28 show.
Kai explores the question of what would be the effect if Trump’s stated intention of involving the presidency with the Fed’s setting of the federal funds rate were to come to pass.
He begins by briefly addressing the “fair and balanced” model of U.S. journalism, pointing out that the topic really only involves one presidential candidate, Trump, and providing a brief and clear statement by Kamala Harris that she has no intention of challenging the independence of the Fed, consistent with every prior president of both parties going back decades. He explains the role and mandate of the Fed and why it is essential that their work be purely technocratic and never politicized. Political figures need to please voters in the short term, but the delicate adjustment of interest rates to keep inflation low and steady while maintaining a healthy employment rate is a long game.
Interviews follow with notable experts, laying out the history of the Fed’s independence and some scary predictions of what would happen if it ended. And of the importance of US Treasury Bills as the safest haven for money worldwide, and thus the reliance by the entire world on the US being a stable and well-managed economy.
This story reminded me of something that might be put out by The Economist or the Guardian. I once subscribed to the former and was struck by the Economist’s writers reporting on a topic without the pretense of being without a viewpoint of their own. Their “viewpoint” was not hidden, and if it changed they would later report that as well. It was so refreshing as compared to the US model for mainstream journalism, which has been the subject of countless frustrated rants on Daily Kos.
I am no expert on journalism (though I did use newspaper writing in my first political activism), and I am not an economist (a semi-retired engineer actually, but now in my third campaign for our local Town Council, hence the need to knock on doors and have extended conversations with voters). But I thought this question of the Feds independence was so important, and so revealing to me, that I’m recommending a listen. Those who have a larger stake in the economic game, or all of us who rely on its stability (e.g. managing inflation), or those who hope to keep the United States democracy strong in an increasingly unstable world, should know about this issue. We who see the need for huge investment in the remaking of our energy system need to know what enables such an investment.
Thanks for reading.
