President Donald Trump’s unprecedented and escalating attack on the Federal Reserve runs the risk of backfiring by hitting financial markets and the economy with higher long-term borrowing costs.
For weeks, he has lambasted Chair Jerome Powell for not slashing interest rates deeply to stimulate the economy and — as Trump sees it — lower the government’s debt bills.
He’s already nominated the head of his Council of Economic Advisers to the central bank’s board and is now seeking to oust Governor Lisa Cook, setting the stage for a legal battle over the institution’s political autonomy.
Yet for all ...
