Fed Chairman Powell, Trump Meet, Discuss Economy
November 18 2019 - 11:23AM
Dow Jones News
By Nick Timiraos
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell met with President Trump
at the White House on Monday to discuss the economy, the central
bank said in a statement.
Fed officials have cut their short-term rate three times since
July, most recently in October to a range between 1.5% and 1.75%.
Officials lowered rates to cushion the U.S. economy against the
risks of a sharp slowdown due to a slide in business investment and
decelerating global growth.
" Chair Powell's comments were consistent with his remarks at
his congressional hearings last week. He didn't discuss his
expectations for monetary policy, except to stress that the path of
policy will depend entirely on incoming information that bears on
the outlook for the economy," the central bank said in a
statement.
The two men haven't met since Mr. Trump hosted Mr. Powell for
dinner at the White House residence in February. Mr. Trump has
frequently attacked Mr. Powell in statements on Twitter, calling
him an enemy of the state and a "terrible communicator."
"Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve Fail Again. No "guts," no
sense, no vision!" Mr. Trump said in September on Twitter, shortly
after the Fed cut interest rates for the second time this year.
Mr. Trump has spoken by phone with Mr. Powell three times this
year, for around five minutes each, most recently in May, according
to Mr. Powell's public calendar.
Mr. Trump's attacks on the Fed ended a bipartisan precedent
extending to the Clinton administration in which presidents didn't
publicly direct the central bank on how to set policy. In the 1960s
and 1970s, inflation accelerated after presidents pressured the
central bank to stimulate growth.
At a congressional hearing last week, Mr. Powell declined to
respond directly when invited by lawmakers to answer any of Mr.
Trump's insults. "It's very, very important that the public
understands that we do our work on a nonpartisan, nonpolitical
basis," he said.
Write to Nick Timiraos at nick.timiraos@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 18, 2019 11:08 ET (16:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.