About this episode
If you have a credit card, hope to buy a house, or just want stable grocery prices – let’s talk about the future of Fed independence!<br/><br/>It’s impossibly important for the Federal Reserve to steer monetary policy without political interference – an ideal pushed to its brink during Jerome Powell’s time as Fed Chair.<br/><br/>Powell’s Fed faced a once-in-a-century pandemic, oversaw the economy as inflation spiked to about 9 percent … went back down to nearly 2 percent … and has started to go back up as the U.S. has gone to war and continued to try and implement the most comprehensive tariffs since the early 1900s.<br/><br/>But perhaps Powell will be best remembered as a target – of angry tweets, speeches, and ultimately a criminal investigation, by the very president who nominated him in the first place.<br/><br/>On Powell’s last day as chair, we ask where his story fits into the sweep of history. We’ll hear from someone who was on the Fed Board when Powell was appointed … and when President Trump started to pressure Powell. Plus, we learn what to watch for to see if Fed Independence is crumbling – or holding – as a new Fed Chair nominated by President Trump takes office.<br/><br/>Recommend Listening:<br/><br/> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/03/01/699546781/episode-898-happy-fed-independence-day"target="_blank" >Happy Fed Independence Day</a><br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/01/10/1223918033/richard-nixon-arthur-burns-fed-independence"target="_blank" >The case for Fed independence in the Nixon tapes</a><br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/04/23/1246593555/federal-reserve-independence"target="_blank" >A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence</a><br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/08/26/nx-s1-5518335/trumps-unprecedented-attack-on-the-fed"target="_blank" >Trump's unprecedented attack on the Fed</a><br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/08/14/1197968126/should-presidents-have-more-of-a-say-in-interest-rates"target="_blank" >Should presidents have more of a say in interest rates?</a><br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/08/29/nx-s1-5522330/lisa-cook-trump-lawsuit-federal-reserve-independence"target="_blank" >Lisa Cook and the fight for the Fed</a><br> - <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/09/05/nx-s1-5532144/central-bank-independence-federal-reserve"target="_blank" >What happens to central banks under pressure?</a><br/><br/><a href="https://www.planetmoneybook.com"target="_blank" ><em>Book info.</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3HlREPz"target="_blank" ><em>Subscribe to Planet Money+</em></a><br/><br/><em>Listen free: </em><a href="http://n.pr/PM-digital"target="_blank" ><em>Apple Podcasts</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3gTkQlR"target="_blank" ><em>Spotify</em></a><em>, </em><a href="https://n.pr/3Bkb17W"target="_blank" ><em>the NPR app</em></a><em> or anywhere you get podcasts.</em><br/><br/><a href="https://n.pr/3h92GwS"target="_blank" ><em>Facebook</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3FqLuws"target="_blank" ><em>Instagram</em></a><em> / </em><a href="https://n.pr/3sGZdrq"target="_blank" ><em>TikTok</em></a><em> / Our weekly </em><a href="https://n.pr/3zrFvUB"target="_blank" ><em>Newsletter</em></a><em>.</em><br/><br/><em>This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Erika Beras. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez and Cena Loffredo. </em>Planet Money<em>’s executive producer is Alex Goldmark. </em><br/><br/>See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>