Courtesy of Mish.
In the election run-up, Donald Trump both praised and criticized higher interest rates, multiple times each way.
So what the heck does Trump want?
The only thing we are reasonably sure of is Trump prefers businessmen and women running the country instead of academics.
Conflicting Views
- Nov. 3, 2015: “Janet Yellen should have raised the rates. She’s not doing it because the Obama administration and the president doesn’t want her to.”
- May 5, 2016 to CNBC: “I am a low interest-rate person. If we raise interest rates and if the dollar starts getting too strong, we’re going to have some very major problems.
- May 9, 2016: To The Wall Street Journal: “If interest rates went up, our economy is not doing well at all. And it’s going to hurt the economy very badly. If interest rates went up, it would be a disaster.”
- Sept. 5, 2016: Asked about a potential rate increase in September, Mr. Trump said: “They’re keeping the rates down so that everything else doesn’t go down. We have a very false economy. “At some point the rates are going to have to change. The only thing that is strong is the artificial stock market.”
- Sept. 12, 2016: “The people that were hurt the worst (by low rates) are people that saved their money all their lives and thought they would live off their interests and those people are getting just absolutely creamed…. The interest rates are kept down by President Obama.” “It’s a tremendous problem for the country and we are talking about rates that are practically at zero.
Is that clear or what?
I am open to suggestions, but I believe the average person just might side with “or what?”
The Trump Fed
From the above statements, one would have to be a mind-reader or an insider to know what Trump wants.
