Loretta Mester, former president of the Cleveland Fed and now a Wharton professor, stressed that political criticism won’t sway the Federal Reserve’s decisions, though she cautioned such attacks could damage its reputation.
- “They also have to contend with the fact that there may be some of the public that’s skeptical about how they’ve gone about making their decisions,” she said, warning that credibility is at risk.
Mester also voiced doubts that rate cuts — whether a single move or several — would reduce pressure on policymakers.
- “I’m not convinced one rate cut or many cuts will take pressure off the Fed,” she noted. On the president’s push for lower rates, she added: “He doesn’t seem to care that much about monetary policy being independent and insulated from short-run political considerations.”
