Voters are more likely to blame the party in power than the party seeking to regain power
We’re not referring to any of the three justices Trump appointed to the Supreme Court, who now form a rock-solid conservative majority that has elated the Trump base while simultaneously motivating Democrats to initiate unprecedented reforms in how the court operates.
The reference here is to Jerome Powell, the most powerful central banker in the world, who took ownership of last week’s controversial Federal Reserve Board decision not to cut interest rates to stimulate an economy showing growing signs of weakness.
It was Trump who elevated Powell to Fed chairman in 2018, although it didn’t take long for the president to turn on his appointee — at that time for not being more aggressive in cutting rates. Powell has now served under three successive administrations. President Obama first nominated Powell to the Fed Board of Governors in 2012. President Biden renominated Powell for a second term in 2022, but it is Kamala Harris, whom Biden “nominated” as his successor, who could thrive or flop at the polls depending on what the Fed does when it meets again in September.
The Fed controls US monetary policy, mainly through its power to raise or lower short-term interest rates. Fed decisions directly impact the rates consumers pay for mortgages or car loans and those that corporations pay when borrowing to expand their businesses or refinance debt. Central banks worldwide tend to follow the Fed’s lead, so Fed policy plays an outsized role in the global economy.
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