Robust defence needed for Fed independence

Washington

THE US Federal Reserve is on the front page of every American newspaper in ways that it might not ever have imagined, let alone wanted, and certainly in ways not seen for the past two decades in which executive branch wisdom - quite wisely - was never to speak publicly about monetary policy.

Many prominent and well-respected economists have questioned the latest 25 basis point hike in the fed funds target rate. US President Donald Trump, in casting blame for a falling stock market, has made Fed chairman Jerome Powell and Fed rate increases ground zero in his daily vitriol.