Central Banks
Fed’s 2018 Transcripts Show Desire to Shore Up Political Support
- Comments illuminate concerns around future balance-sheet moves
- Year included intense pressure from Trump about interest rates
The Federal Reserve building in Washington.
Photographer: Valerie Plesch/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Federal Reserve officials recognized the growing need to get political and public support for their actions — particularly in times of crisis — well before the pandemic shuttered the economy, transcripts from the central bank’s 2018 meetings showed Friday.
“Federal Reserve independence is critical, but there’s no doubt that we’re going to need political support for our actions in the next downturn, particularly if it involves using the balance sheet,” Robert Kaplan, then-president of the Dallas Fed, said according to transcripts of the Federal Open Market Committee meetings in 2018.