Like It or Not, Trump is Right about the Fed

https://trendmacro.com/system/files/reports/20180720TrendMacroLuskin-Z0.pdf
Donald L. Luskin
Friday, July 20, 2018
If Powell is just a puppet, doesn’t somebody have to pull the strings?
Federal Reserve
US Bonds
FX
US Macro
Trump raised eyebrows by expressing dissatisfaction with Fed rate hikes. Trump is right to urge caution with further hikes. He picked Powell specifically to be non-independent, so it should be no surprise that he is trying to exert influence over his puppet. If Powell wishes to be independent, there is nothing Trump can do about it. In this case Powell’s policy views probably don’t differ much from Trump’s anyway. Policy is just slightly below neutral, and it will take the realization of expected improvement in the economy and in inflation to justify many more hikes. But with inarticulate non-economist Powell it’s hard to be sure, especially when he has recently claimed his independence. We don’t blame Trump for seeing if his puppet’s strings are still attached.