Donald Trump really is a bad bloke. Not only does he not fit into any familiar mould, the man has ideas that bring tears to the eyes of even seasoned conservatives. These days, the German business newspaper Handelsblatt reports with indignation that Trump is preparing to question one of the most important taboos of the neoliberals, the independence of the central bank. He actually wants to intervene in interest rate policy because he suspects that his instincts in these matters are better than those of the employees of the central bank.
The Handelsblatt immediately throws the strongest knock-down argument into the round by stating a breach of taboo and quoting an economist from Moody’s who says bluntly: ‘The independence of the central bank is the core of a well-functioning market economy.’ There we have it. The core of the market economy is not functioning markets, but the fact that the government has given a few technocrats the privilege of conducting ‘independent monetary policy’.
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