Federal Reserve's Bostic: Fed Independence Has Been Eroded

Odaily News Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Wednesday that the rift between the Federal Reserve and the White House has begun to erode public trust in the central bank's apolitical status. This is one of the most direct warnings to date from a senior monetary policy official about the consequences of Trump's tough stance towards the Fed. In a farewell article written ahead of his retirement from the Atlanta Fed at the end of February, Bostic stated that his colleagues within the Federal Reserve System remain committed to insulating their work from politics. "But my travels over the past few months have made it clear that the legal and rhetorical battles surrounding the central bank have led people across all segments of society to begin questioning the Fed's independence, which is a serious concern." Bostic is not the only Fed official this year to emphasize the importance of central bank independence, but no one has warned as directly as he did on Wednesday that the current series of controversies could undermine public trust in the institution.