President Trump has spent much of his term bashing outgoing Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates enough. On Tuesday, he seemed surprisingly blasé about the possibility that incoming chair Kevin Warsh might end up raising them. Driving the news: A reporter on Tuesday noted that markets now think an interest rate hike this year is more likely than a cut and asked the president whether he thinks Warsh will deliver the lower rates that Trump has long demanded. - "I'm going to let him do what he wants to do," Trump said. "He's a very talented guy, he's going to be fine, he's going to do a good job." Between the lines: That's not how defenders of Fed independence would prefer a president phrase things. Once a Fed…
When Kevin Warsh takes over as Federal Reserve chair, he will face vocal internal opposition to any attempts to cut rates prematurely. - His predecessor will also still be roaming the halls . Why it matters: Taken together, Wednesday's news out of the William McChesney Martin Jr. Building means that Warsh will face serious constraints if he wants to rapidly steer the Fed in ways that its current leadership believes unwise. - He will have to achieve his goals of rewiring how the Fed operates and potentially cutting rates through persuasion, not a writ from the chair's office. - That has always been true, but the outbreak of dissent to Wednesday's policy statement, combined with Jerome Powell's move to block President Trump from…
Grant Newsham appeared on The John Batchelor Show to evaluate Japan’s new hawkish Prime Minister, Takaichi Sai. He argues Japan must accept military risks in the Strait of Hormuz to solidify future American support against the growing threats from mainland China now. Listen HereOpen
State of the Union: Sanae Takaichi’s victory represents the largest electoral landslide in postwar Japan. The post Japan’s LDP Wins Supermajority appeared first on The American Conservative .
Japan’s Sunday elections brought the governing Liberal Democratic Party a supermajority in a major victory for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who had gambled by calling an election shortly after assuming office. The LDP won 316 of 465 seats in the country’s House of Representatives, up from the 198 it held before the election. While the LDP has governed Japan for all but six years since its formation 1955, it lost its governing majority in October 2024, leading to the resignation of Shigeru Ishiba as prime minister and party leader the following year. Following Ishiba’s resignation, Takaichi won the LDP’s leadership contest in an upset. Takaichi is known for her social conservatism and her hawkishness on China. The…Open
The Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to avoid providing President Trump with a clear recommendation to lead the central bank.
AI:President Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh to serve as the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve, a move aimed at bringing fiscal discipline to the central bank. Despite attempts by the liberal media to suggest that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent might be troubled by Warsh's hawkish economic stance, the appointment signals a commitment to sound money and an end to the inflationary tendencies favored by the radical left. The nomination follows significant speculation regarding who would succeed Jerome Powell to ensure the American economy remains stable against globalist pressures.Open
The central bank cut rates at its three previous meetings in an effort to support the job market. But with inflation still elevated, the Fed is cautious about additional rate cuts.