Joe Rennison

It broadly reduces costs for companies in the stock market.

Yes, yes.

There is absolutely concern around these sorts of things.

Whether that gets reflected in markets is a little bit different.

Markets aren't moral.

They don't have a system of governance that they are wedded to.

What they fundamentally care about is that policy, especially monetary policy coming from the Federal Reserve...

is consistent with the sort of economic fundamentals that we're facing.

In authoritarian governments, that can sometimes become dislocated, where the politicians are making those decisions, not the policymakers.

And then you can end up with economic policy that doesn't fit the economy you have, and that can lead to some very unpleasant results, let's say.

Sure.

We're not in that situation.

We're in a situation where, yes, the administration is putting a lot of pressure on the Federal Reserve.

They're putting pressure on Federal Reserve independence through the attempt to fire Lisa Cook.

Yeah.

But at least for now, the policy that they are pushing through is consistent with the economic fundamentals we're facing.

So the fact that Jerome Powell is now lowering interest rates is more a coincidence that that's what Trump wants as well.

Because, you know, for a large chunk of this year,

Trump wanted lower interest rates and it was not the right time and Powell didn't want to do that.

Now they're aligned.