Tracy Alloway

And then the next day, news came that Trump had fired the two Democratic commissioners at the FTC. And he had used this kind of special power to do it. That's now working its way through the courts. In fact, odd lots is cited in the lawsuit that those commissioners are now filing. And the interesting thing here, the relevance for the Fed is...

And then the next day, news came that Trump had fired the two Democratic commissioners at the FTC. And he had used this kind of special power to do it. That's now working its way through the courts. In fact, odd lots is cited in the lawsuit that those commissioners are now filing. And the interesting thing here, the relevance for the Fed is...

And then the next day, news came that Trump had fired the two Democratic commissioners at the FTC. And he had used this kind of special power to do it. That's now working its way through the courts. In fact, odd lots is cited in the lawsuit that those commissioners are now filing. And the interesting thing here, the relevance for the Fed is...

If Trump succeeds in doing this and if the lawyers fail at arguing against this in court, it could have implications for the central bank. It could mean that Trump can effectively fire whoever he wants at the Fed, you know, a regional Fed president, whatever. That would give unprecedented control, at least in America, to a president over the central bank.

If Trump succeeds in doing this and if the lawyers fail at arguing against this in court, it could have implications for the central bank. It could mean that Trump can effectively fire whoever he wants at the Fed, you know, a regional Fed president, whatever. That would give unprecedented control, at least in America, to a president over the central bank.

If Trump succeeds in doing this and if the lawyers fail at arguing against this in court, it could have implications for the central bank. It could mean that Trump can effectively fire whoever he wants at the Fed, you know, a regional Fed president, whatever. That would give unprecedented control, at least in America, to a president over the central bank.

And markets and investors, as a rule, tend not to be fans of a central bank that is not very independent.

And markets and investors, as a rule, tend not to be fans of a central bank that is not very independent.

And markets and investors, as a rule, tend not to be fans of a central bank that is not very independent.

Oh, man. Are you ready to be traumatized?

Oh, man. Are you ready to be traumatized?

Oh, man. Are you ready to be traumatized?

Okay. All right. Well, I mean, I think the analogy you could look at is Turkey, for instance. That's a pretty good one. We've seen a sort of revolving door of central bank heads go through the Turkish central bank. They come in for like a few months or a year, and then they're out the door very, very quickly. And presumably because they're not doing the things that Erdogan wants.

Okay. All right. Well, I mean, I think the analogy you could look at is Turkey, for instance. That's a pretty good one. We've seen a sort of revolving door of central bank heads go through the Turkish central bank. They come in for like a few months or a year, and then they're out the door very, very quickly. And presumably because they're not doing the things that Erdogan wants.

Okay. All right. Well, I mean, I think the analogy you could look at is Turkey, for instance. That's a pretty good one. We've seen a sort of revolving door of central bank heads go through the Turkish central bank. They come in for like a few months or a year, and then they're out the door very, very quickly. And presumably because they're not doing the things that Erdogan wants.

Erdogan has been pushing for lower interest rates, even though inflation has been staggeringly high. And yeah, that's sort of the outlook, right? If you have someone in power who's pushing for low interest rates, but at the same time, you have capacity pressures as a result of hypothetical tariffs, for instance, then you're going to see prices go up.

Erdogan has been pushing for lower interest rates, even though inflation has been staggeringly high. And yeah, that's sort of the outlook, right? If you have someone in power who's pushing for low interest rates, but at the same time, you have capacity pressures as a result of hypothetical tariffs, for instance, then you're going to see prices go up.

Erdogan has been pushing for lower interest rates, even though inflation has been staggeringly high. And yeah, that's sort of the outlook, right? If you have someone in power who's pushing for low interest rates, but at the same time, you have capacity pressures as a result of hypothetical tariffs, for instance, then you're going to see prices go up.

The central bank, in theory, should be raising rates, but the combination of lower economic growth and higher prices, stagflation, is a difficult one for the central bank to react to, to be fair. But in theory, they should be raising rates, but the president wants to push them down. That is a recipe for prices going up quite a lot.

The central bank, in theory, should be raising rates, but the combination of lower economic growth and higher prices, stagflation, is a difficult one for the central bank to react to, to be fair. But in theory, they should be raising rates, but the president wants to push them down. That is a recipe for prices going up quite a lot.