Economics
Powell Wants Fed to Stay Out of Election Crosshairs. Good Luck With That
The Federal Reserve chair would like to steer clear of US presidential politics—but both Republicans and Democrats are applying pressure.
Powell
Photographer: Al Drago/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell would no doubt prefer that the central bank not be dragged into the middle of what is likely to be a highly contentious presidential election campaign. But he’s finding that may be near impossible.
In a rare interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes aired on Sunday, Powell insisted that the Fed wouldn’t take politics into account in deciding when to reduce interest rates as inflation ebbs. “It just doesn’t come up in our thinking,” he said.