Beau

Well, howdy there, Internet people.

It's Belle again.

So today, we're going to talk about Trump's indecisiveness hitting the Fed.

The man who brought us concepts like the Trump always chickens out stock market trade and chicken and waffle foreign policy has given us a new issue, and it signals much deeper problems when it comes to the economy.

Some quick background to be able to understand the issue.

When people talk about the Fed cutting interest rates, what they're really talking about is Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the 11 other members of the Federal Open Market Committee voting and adjusting what's called the federal funds rate.

It's not a direct adjustment of your interest rate.

It's the rate banks charge each other.

That's the main tool the Fed has for influencing monetary policy.

On December 10th, the committee voted 9-3 to reduce the federal funds rate by 25 basis points.

Having a quarter of the committee disagree isn't a good sign.

It signals uncertainty.

And say it with me, markets hate uncertainty.

But that isn't the real problem.

The real problem is the reasons, plural, for the dissents.

Chicago Fed President Austin Goolsbee dissented in favor of no decrease.

Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmidt also dissented in favor of no decrease.

Trump's new pick, Fed Governor Stephen Myron, dissented in favor of a 50 basis point decrease.

Not just was there pretty widespread disagreement.

The disagreement went both ways, with some saying no cut and one voting for a deeper cut.