(National Sentinel) No Help: Without question, POTUS Donald Trump’s economic policies have turned around a moribund U.S. economy that was on life support for most of Barack Obama’s two terms in office.
Annual growth rates now are averaging more than 3 percent per year, whereas Obama’s economy limped along averaging below 2 percent GDP and never reaching 3 percent.
Obama’s economy was at least assisted and supported by the Federal Reserve. The Central Bank kept rates a zero and did not raise them for most of 44’s presidency, finally raising it only once late in his second term.
But early in POTUS Trump’s presidency, for some reason, the Fed immediately began looking at raising interest rates. As early as March 2017, Forbes reported:
High-level officials at the Federal Reserve have spent the last two weeks signaling strongly to the world that the Fed is going to raise rates at their March meeting next week. Before all the speeches by Fed officials the markets were not expecting another increase in interest rates until June, but now the futures markets reflect over a 90% probability that an interest-rate hike is coming at next week’s meeting. With no major data releases during those two weeks, this leads to the obvious question about what changed the Fed’s mindset.
Unemployment, employment, labor force participation rates, and inflation are all relatively unchanged from before the presidential election.
Since then the Fed has raised rates three times; it now stands at the 2-2.25 percent range. And reports say that the Fed is considering raising rates again next month.
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Not only does raising rates make it more expensive for Americans to carry debt, it makes it more expensive for the federal government to carry debt. And higher rates also lead to a slowdown in the economy as borrowing becomes more expensive.
Why would the Fed want to put a damper on an expanding economy? Why, when Obama’s economy made its tepid gains, was the Fed not interested at all in raising rates until the end of his tenure?
That’s what POTUS Trump wants to know.
“So far, I’m not even a little bit happy with my selection of Jay,” the Washington Post quoted Trump as saying in an interview, referring to the man he picked last year to lead the Fed, as cited by Reuters.
“Not even a little bit. And I’m not blaming anybody, but I’m just telling you I think that the Fed is way off-base with what they’re doing,” he added.
His concern is that as the federal debt rises again — because he can’t get Congress to agree to substantial spending reductions — it is becoming more expensive to service as interest rates rise. And that can be an economy killer.
Trump has called the Fed “crazy” and “ridiculous.”
“I’m doing deals, and I’m not being accommodated by the Fed,” he added — correctly.
We’re not into conspiracy theories, but given the Deep State’s ongoing efforts to oust or undermine this president, it wouldn’t surprise us if there are hidden forces at work behind the scenes to temper economic growth during his presidency as a means of undercutting his effectiveness, no matter how many millions of Americans are harmed in the process.
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