Trump Needs Someone to Blame
The Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, is that someone.
Can the U.S. president fire the chairman of the Federal Reserve because he does not like the job the chairman is doing?
Once upon a time, the answer was a well-understood no. The Federal Reserve was created by Congress. The founding statute guaranteed the Fed’s independence. Chairman Jerome Powell repeated that conventional answer at the Economic Club of Chicago only yesterday: The chairman cannot be removed for policy reasons.


