Trump reportedly wants to fire Fed chair, a move that could wreak havoc on financial markets

[enhanced_deficit]

Trump reportedly wants to fire the Fed chair, a move that could wreak havoc on the financial markets

John Melloy
Published 5 Hours Ago

President Donald Trump wants to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for raising interest rates, according to a report, an unprecedented action by a president against the independent body, that could undermine confidence in the U.S. financial system already under the strain of a vicious equity sell-off.

Trump has discussed firing Powell privately because of his frustration with stock market losses in recent months, according to Bloomberg News, which cited four people familiar with the situation. The president's frustration intensified in recent days, with him discussing the firing "many times" during that time, according to the report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 7 percent this week, its worst week in 10 years, on fears the Fed is unnecessarily slowing the economy as the central bank on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate for a fourth time this year. The Dow, which Trump cheered when it was at record highs earlier this year, is now down 9 percent in 2018.
The report said the Trump's advisers have warned him against such a move, which has never been done by a president and it's not even clear whether he has the legal authority to do so. White House and Fed spokespeople declined to comment to Bloomberg.

Can he fire him?

Powell became Fed chair in just February of this year after Trump nominated him to take over for Janet Yellen. He was easily confirmed in the Senate and has a four-year term.

While the president appoints the Fed's board of governors, including the chairman, the central bank "derives its authority from the Congress, which created the System in 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act," according to the Fed's website.

"The Board reports to and is directly accountable to the Congress but, unlike many other public agencies, it is not funded by congressional appropriations," the site says

"The President can nominate a chair but once the chair is confirmed, the president is out of it and the only way you can remove a chair from office is literally if they broke the law. Congress will have to find a cause to remove them from office through a vote and a procedure," Ellen Zentner, Morgan Stanley's chief U.S. economist, told CNBC in October.

But Trump has already broken with precedent through his repeated criticism in the second half of this year of the Fed and the chairman to the press and via Twitter, including this week before the central bank hiked rates. Other presidents privately tried to influence the Fed, but none did so in such a public and forceful matter.

'Gone crazy'

"I think the Fed is making a mistake. They are so tight. I think the Fed has gone crazy," the president told reporters in October.
The independence of the Fed is one of the pillars of confidence global investors have in the U.S. financial system. Powell's removal would undermine that confidence because it would now seem the most important central bank was now under the control of a politician, who may not always have the best interests of the economy at heart. Sometimes it's necessary to raise interest rates to keep inflation in check. The Fed has a dual mandate: to maximize employment and stabilize inflation.



Related

Trump: Federal Reserve is my biggest threat

[jkr]

FIRE HIM?

END
IT!

[acptulsa]

Yo, Trump. Do you really think you can

FIRE HIM?

Well, you can't. But you'd be rid of him if you

END
IT!

Oh, who am I kidding? He doesn't want to eliminate the menace. He only wants the Fed to keep blowing that bubble until Election Day 2020.

[Swordsmyth]

More rumors?

[jkr]

Do it!

Go Mushroomhead, go!

[Zippyjuan]

It is almost as easy for a President to fire the Chairman of the Federal Reserve as it is for him to fire a Supreme Court Justice.

[DamianTV]

The ONLY responsible thing we can to in order to protect the financial futures of the PEOPLE is to take every possible action to remove the Federal Reserve Bank ITSELF from its position of power. Should that ever happen, it will need a Catalyzing Event to show just how much power this private unaccountable institution has over BOTH the people and the government. That Event will be a spark that ignites a firestorm of resistance against the Fed's tyranny and corruption enabling practices. Unless we have that Catalyzing Event, the majority of people will continue to be unaware that the Fed is not just involved in fraud, THE FED IS FRAUD.

---

FIRE HIM?

END
IT!

Can not +REP that enough!

[Madison320]

The ONLY responsible thing we can to in order to protect the financial futures of the PEOPLE is to take every possible action to remove the Federal Reserve Bank ITSELF from its position of power. Should that ever happen, it will need a Catalyzing Event to show just how much power this private unaccountable institution has over BOTH the people and the government. That Event will be a spark that ignites a firestorm of resistance against the Fed's tyranny and corruption enabling practices. Unless we have that Catalyzing Event, the majority of people will continue to be unaware that the Fed is not just involved in fraud, THE FED IS FRAUD.

I agree with everything except that you insinuated the Fed being private is a bad thing. The fact that the Fed is private is the only good thing about it. If the govt was controlling the money supply directly we'd have hyper inflation decades ago. If we're going to end the Fed we need to replace it with a free market monetary system. A govt run system would be infinitely worse than the Fed.

[Swordsmyth]

I agree with everything except that you insinuated the Fed being private is a bad thing. The fact that the Fed is private is the only good thing about it. If the govt was controlling the money supply directly we'd have hyper inflation decades ago. If we're going to end the Fed we need to replace it with a free market monetary system. A govt run system would be infinitely worse than the Fed.

If we had hyperinflation decades ago we just might have gotten rid of the fed by now.

[Madison320]

If we had hyperinflation decades ago we just might have gotten rid of the fed by now.

Yes, but that's not what I said.

[Swordsmyth]

Yes, but that's not what I said.

I'm suggesting that it would be better if it was under government control.

The banksters are better at boiling frogs than the politicians.

[Madison320]

I'm suggesting that it would be better if it was under government control.

The banksters are better at boiling frogs than the politicians.

Yeah I guess you could say govt run would be better because it would be so much worse that we'd have to replace it.

Kinda like hoping that Trump gets his way with the wall, infrastructure and military demands. It's bad but it'll speed up the crash.

[DamianTV]

I agree with everything except that you insinuated the Fed being private is a bad thing. The fact that the Fed is private is the only good thing about it. If the govt was controlling the money supply directly we'd have hyper inflation decades ago. If we're going to end the Fed we need to replace it with a free market monetary system. A govt run system would be infinitely worse than the Fed.

I think Money needs to be the SLAVE of the People, but NEVER its Master, which it is today. I dont trust either Govt, or Private Companies to control the issuance of our money. Thus, I think Money should be created and its power held by the PEOPLE but never Govt or Banks. Which is why a Gold Standard is partly important. Cant print Gold. And no more of this Fractional Reserve Lending horse $#@! either.

[devil21]

I've been writing here about this exact thing happening for a while. It's part of the script. The end of the Fed, as it is currently chartered and legislated, has been planned for several years.

[DamianTV]

I've been writing here about this exact thing happening for a while. It's part of the script. The end of the Fed, as it is currently chartered and legislated, has been planned for several years.

What replaces the Fed, according to the script? Will it be an HONEST MONEY SYSTEM, or an International Bank also with the power to coin currency out of thin air and debt based?

[Madison320]

I think Money needs to be the SLAVE of the People, but NEVER its Master, which it is today. I dont trust either Govt, or Private Companies to control the issuance of our money. Thus, I think Money should be created and its power held by the PEOPLE but never Govt or Banks. Which is why a Gold Standard is partly important. Cant print Gold. And no more of this Fractional Reserve Lending horse $#@! either.

What about private free market banks. Would you allow those?

[devil21]

What replaces the Fed, according to the script? Will it be an HONEST MONEY SYSTEM, or an International Bank also with the power to coin currency out of thin air and debt based?

Trump is being set up as the white knight that kills the Fed on behalf of those that have planned it, whether he knows it or not. Good chance it repays him the favor, too, if you catch my drift.

The Fed will basically just be nationalized and outstanding gov't debt that hasn't already been settled, repudiated (most of the debt we owe to ourselves, not outside entities). In the short term for the remaining days of paper currency, (claimed) gold-backed Treasury notes will replace FRNs and circulate alongside remaining FRNs, while those remaining FRNs are quickly removed from circulation. The longer term is gold and resource-linked cryptocurrencies. One cryptocurrency, denominated in $ for the US but is really just digital "credits" to be spent. Other countries/regions will have their individual currency symbol denominated cryptos, also. All of those cryptos will link together into a global crypto (think interconnecting "rings", sorta like a giant Ven diagram) that is a measure of a basket of national symbol cryptos, denoted as an IMF SDR, to be used for global trade, so that no particular country/region can control currency.

So yes, similar to sound money and not debt-based but, in reality, eventually fully electronic and therefore entirely imaginary. Also entirely trackable and controlled.

[specsaregood]

I think Money needs to be the SLAVE of the People, but NEVER its Master, which it is today. I dont trust either Govt, or Private Companies to control the issuance of our money. Thus, I think Money should be created and its power held by the PEOPLE but never Govt or Banks. Which is why a Gold Standard is partly important. Cant print Gold. And no more of this Fractional Reserve Lending horse $#@! either.

There is nothing inherently wrong with fractional reserve lending. The problem is when you have the govt guaranteeing deposits. A situation where depositor can have savings at a bank in an account that pays real interest in exchange for knowing that not all funds are always liquid or that there is a possibility of a loss is just fine in a free market. People that don't want the possibility of any loss, would instead not be paid interest and have to pay a fee.

[Zippyjuan]

What replaces the Fed, according to the script? Will it be an HONEST MONEY SYSTEM, or an International Bank also with the power to coin currency out of thin air and debt based?

Or it could be the President or Congress in charge of the money supply. Would they resist inflating it? Trump wants looser money.

It would take an act of Congress to replace or remove the Federal Reserve. What sort of money/ banking system do you think they would come up with?