Jerome Powell is not the arsonist setting the economy on fire; he’s the firefighter getting hosed down by Trump’s reckless trade wars while still trying to save the house. In other words, if Jerome Powell is guilty of anything, it is trying to apply economic CPR while Trump is out there gleefully choking the patient with his own tariffs.
If scapegoating were an Olympic sport, President Trump would be breaking world records. As America’s economy stumbles closer to a cliff’s edge, Trump is already setting up his safety net — not to catch the fall, but to catch a culprit. And poor Jerome H. Powell, the honorable Chair of the Federal Reserve, has been marked like a bullseye at a county fair. As a statistician and economist, I see this circus act clearly for what it is: an outrageous attempt to make the Fed the whipping boy for Trump's tariff-triggered disasters.
President Trump’s chaotic tariff war is backfiring like a
rusty old musket. When he slapped a 145% tariff on Chinese imports this year,
he didn’t just bruise Beijing; he sucker-punched American businesses and
consumers. Shipments from China are collapsing faster than a cheap folding
chair — down over 60% — and entire industries like fireworks, textiles, and
electronics are gasping for breath. Even the iconic July Fourth celebrations
could go dark because American suppliers can’t get basic goods. Prices are shooting
up, layoffs are looming, and critical materials are drying up like puddles in
the Mojave Desert.
Instead of admitting he has lit the economic barn on
fire, Trump is setting up Jerome Powell to take the blame. He calls Powell a
"major loser," slanders him on social media, pressures the Fed to
slash interest rates, and even flirts with firing him — though deep down, he
knows he can’t legally do it without starting a constitutional crisis bigger
than his hairdo. Trump’s strategy is as old as time: when the ship starts
sinking, don't fix the leaks — blame the captain of the rescue boat.
Let’s be clear. The Federal Reserve was created to
operate independently from political clowns, kings, and chaos agents. Its job
is to make data-driven decisions to protect the economy from inflation,
deflation, and foolishness. Jerome Powell is trying to do exactly that: steer
the monetary ship through dangerous waters without crashing into the rocks of
political gamesmanship. But Trump, the ultimate backseat driver, keeps grabbing
the wheel and shouting nonsense about cutting rates — ignoring that such cuts
won't magically undo the destruction caused by his tariff tantrums.
The proverb says, "He who throws stones at others
should not live in a glass house." Yet here we are. Trump's glass house of
economic fantasy is cracking under the weight of reality, and instead of fixing
it, he’s hurling stones at Powell. History tells us that political meddling
with central banks has always ended badly. Richard Nixon pressured his Fed
Chairman Arthur Burns in the 1970s, demanding easy money to boost his
re-election. The result? Rampant inflation that haunted America for a decade.
Trump is dusting off that same rotten playbook — but with even more reckless
swagger.
The Federal Reserve, under Powell’s leadership, has been
walking a tightrope with no safety net. Inflation is down from its pandemic-era
highs, but it’s still stubborn in critical areas. Meanwhile, consumer
confidence is shaky, housing markets are squeezed, and corporate investment is
drying up faster than a riverbed in Texas. Powell has resisted cutting rates
prematurely because he knows the inflation monster is still lurking under the
bed. Trump’s push to flood the economy with cheap money now would be like
throwing gasoline on a grease fire.
As America inches closer to a recession, a reckoning is
coming. Trump’s economic house of cards, built on tariffs, tweets, and
tantrums, is starting to sway in the wind. When jobs are lost, when prices
soar, when farmers go bankrupt because they can’t sell soybeans to China
anymore, Trump will need a villain to blame. Jerome Powell, the calm,
gray-haired steward of monetary policy, fits that role perfectly in Trump’s
melodrama. Never mind that it was Trump's tariffs, not Powell's policies, that
started this bonfire. Never mind that undermining the Fed’s independence risks
turning a bad recession into a full-blown depression. Trump needs a fall guy —
and Powell’s face is already on the wanted posters.
I say this loud and clear: President Trump must leave
Jerome Powell alone. The Fed Chair is not his economic butler. Powell does not
work for Trump's ego. He works for the American people, and for the stability
of the U.S. economy. The last thing we need is a Fed that dances to the tune of
a politician who can’t tell the difference between a stock market rally and a
sugar rush.
The story unfolding right now is as old as Aesop's
fables: the fox loses his tail and blames the trapper. Trump’s trade war trap
has snapped shut on the American economy, and now he’s limping around,
screaming at Powell instead of admitting his own foolishness. If Trump wants
someone to blame, he should look in the mirror — but we all know he’s too busy
practicing his thumbs for another Twitter rant.
America’s economy deserves better than being a pawn in
one man's re-election gambit. Monetary policy should not be dictated by
campaign slogans or populist bluster. It should be guided by sober analysis,
long-term thinking, and a deep respect for facts. Powell is trying to play the
long game, protecting the economy from both inflation and political insanity.
Trump, meanwhile, is trying to rig the short game, even if it wrecks the whole
casino.
There's an old Nigerian proverb that says, "The
monkey who tries to pull down the tree forgets that he is also sitting on
it." President Trump is yanking at the tree with all his might, blind to
the fact that he, too, is perched precariously on its branches. If the tree
falls — if the economy crashes — it won't be Powell's fault. It will be Trump’s
legacy, carved into the tombstone of economic history.
At the end of the day, no amount of finger-pointing will
change the numbers. No amount of name-calling will hide the consequences of a
reckless trade war. And no amount of shouting at Jerome Powell will save Trump
from the hurricane he summoned with his own hands. But if he insists on making
Powell the villain, Trump might just find that even scapegoats know how to kick
back — and that karma has a way of hitting harder than any tariff ever could.
After all, when you keep blaming the smoke detector for
the fire, don’t be surprised when the whole house burns down while you’re still
arguing with it.
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