Trumps candidacy to fuel more Fed easy money, analysts say
Posted onFederal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellens Keynesian credentials are plain to see.
A quick Google search of Janet Yellen Keynesian reveals articles such as Janet Yellen: A Keynesian woman at the Fed (New Yorker, April 3, 2013) and Yellen looks toward a Keynesian approach (Reuters, Feb. 13, 2014).
Keynesian economists, of course, favor easy-money policies in the belief that borrowers can spend their way to prosperity and out of recessions if only central banks keep the monetary spigots flowing and governments provide social and infrastructural programs financed through taxes and government bonds.
While the Fed is purportedly a neutral, independent agency immune from the hue and cry of partisan politicking, an analysis of the campaign contributions of the central banks employees shows that they are indeed voting with their pocketbooks largely in one direction.
Clinton scores biggest Fed donations: A Bloomberg report revealed that as of March 14, Trump hasnt collected a single donation from Fed employees. His GOP rivals did marginally better, with Sen. Ted Cruz getting $2,000 and Sen. Marco Rubio pocketing $750. In contrast, top Democratic contender Hillary Clinton had logged $18,239.
Its no wonder that Trump hasnt received anything from the Fed. On multiple occasions he has accused the central bank of inflating bubbles through artificially low interest rates, maybe even as a favor to President Barack Obama.
The next guy or person who takes over as president could have a real problem, he told Bloomberg, in the form of a recession or worse.
So important to audit the Fed: And even more damaging to his chances of currying favor with these monetary mandarins, Trump also has expressed his support for Audit the Fed legislation. It is so important to audit the Federal Reserve, he tweeted on Feb. 22.
Now New York Post columnist John Crudele has hammered home the obvious inference one can make given the existential threat that an audit poses toward the Fed.
The upcoming election and, especially, the surprising strength of Donald Trump also make it almost impossible for the Fed to boost rates, Crudele wrote on March 24. If Trump gets elected, the Fed will almost immediately be hit by audits that will reveal lots of secret, sinister things.
So Fed Chair Janet Yellen and her fellow central bankers cant do anything like raise the cost of money that might slow the economy down and give Trump a better shot at winning the presidency.
A win-win for gold: Whatever you might think of Trump and numerous analysts say the Republicans presidential policies might actually bloat the national debt, hurt the U.S. corporations via isolationist trade policies, and stoke geopolitical conflict the idea of Clinton winning the presidency cant help but be good for gold.
And the road to electing Clinton, if indeed Crudele is correct in his description of the Feds leanings, means the central bank might well keep in place the low to zero interest-rate policies that have helped pump up the price of gold for most of the past decade.
Presidential election years are often bullish for the yellow metal, and Trumps presence as a serious contender in this race might just up the ante.