A group of former Federal Reserve chairs and Treasury secretaries released a joint statement defending Fed Chair Jerome Powell after he revealed the Trump administration’s Justice Department is threatening to criminally indict him over his testimony about the Fed’s renovations.
The group includes former Fed chairs Ben Bernanke, Allen Greenspan and Janet Yellen, as well as former Treasury secretaries Timothy Geithner and Henry Paulson, plus several former chairs of the Council of Economic Advisers who served under Republican and Democratic administrations.
“The Federal Reserve’s independence and the public’s perception of that independence are critical for economic performance, including achieving the goals Congress has set for the Federal Reserve of stable prices, maximum employment, and moderate long-term interest rates,” the group wrote.
“The reported criminal inquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell is an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine that independence,” they added.
“This is how monetary policy is made in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly. It has no place in the United States whose greatest strength is the rule of law, which is at the foundation of our economic success,” the statement concluded.
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