‘The concept that our central bank is independent from partisan politics is extraordinarily important to the stature of our currency in global markets and to the faith and confidence people have in the value of the dollar both domestically and abroad.’
Those are the thoughts of Ken Griffin, the founder of Chicago-based Citadel Investment Group, regarding President Donald Trump’s persistent criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
During the Global Financial Leadership Conference in Naples, Fla., on Tuesday, Griffin said it was inappropriate for the president to challenge the monetary policy path of the Fed chief as Trump has.
The 45th U.S. president has delivered a fusillade of verbal attacks against Powell, who Trump tapped to replace Janet Yellen. In an October interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump acknowledged the independence the Fed has, but said the head policy maker “almost looks like he’s happy raising interest rates.”
Before those comments,Trump earlier in October branded the Fed’s policy actions as “crazy” and “loco,” during the height of a stock market selloff that rattled the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.01% and the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.38% and pushed the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.71% into correction territory—usually characterized as a drop of at least 20% from a recent peak—for the first time in about two years.
Trump has argued that the Fed’s interest-rate increases, with a fourth increase to benchmark interest rates expected next month, undermine his business-friendly agenda.
Griffin believes that dogged attacks could ultimately hurt the global market’s faith in the dollar. As measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.42% a gauge of the buck against six key rivals, the greenback has gained 5.4% thus far in 2018 after a withering 2017 where it lost about 10%.
Griffin manages about $30 billion via Chicago-based Citadel, which he founded in 1990. The investor ranks 153rd on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, boasting a net worth of $8.8 billion. Trump’s net worth is $2.84 billion according to that index.
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