As Ryan McMaken, among others, noted this week President Donald Trump has seemed to pivot his attention away from his economic legislative agenda and more toward foreign policy matters. Given the legislative frustrations over Obamacare repeal, and his Goldman-led Treasury’s insistence on the sort of revenue-neutral tax reform that may have a hard time getting through a Republican Congress, Trump defenders could place most of the blame for this strategic shift to the political realities of Congress. Today, however, Trump has signaled a retreat from his campaign rhetoric on an issue he has complete control over: whether or not to keep Janet Yellen as Fed chair beyond 2018.
During an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump was asked if Janet Yellen was “toast.”
His response:
No, not toast … I like her, I respect her. It’s very early. I do like a low-interest rate policy, I must be honest with you.
In terms of his own self-preservation, Trump’s recent comments make perfect sense and reflect signals we have been receiving from Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
It must be pointed out though that Trump made it perfectly clear during the presidential campaign that he understands the Fed’s low-interest-rate policy has very real consequences beyond Wall Street.
Reprinted from The Daily Caller.
