Donald Trump’s assault on the political independence of the U.S. Federal Reserve has been brewing for a long time. And his attack on central bank independence is also not limited to the United States. Governments in other countries have been at it for a while now. The reason is simple. The ‘Great Moderation’ achieved by monetary economists in the 1990s and early 2000s proved unsustainable. The ensuing crisis made it easy for politicians to challenge central bank independence.

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