这实质上是一个十分普遍的问题，它等于媒体在问：联储的货币政策制定者会不会根据在今年大选年降息的“政治”利益。权衡他们“仅由使命驱动”的降息决定。按理说，作为推崇央行独立性的美联储官员，古尔斯比要“正确”回答这个问题其实很简单，只需要说“不会”即可。换句话说，美联储不会考虑选举周期，而是以数据驱动决策。When asked if he was concerned about the timing of the interest rate cut approaching the election, as a Fed official who "doesn't care about politics" and advocates for central bank independence, Chicago Fed Chairman Goolsbee should have simply answered no. Instead, he replied "a little bit," and then quickly added that no matter what the Fed does, someone will not like it, and the Fed's commitment is to pursue the dual missions of employment and inflation.
Federal Reserve officials have always avoided discussing politically related topics and have long pursued central bank independence that is not influenced by any political factors. But this Friday, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee hit the Fed's independence shield of 'not caring about politics.'
It is well known that the Federal Reserve bears a dual mandate of full employment and price stability. In a media interview on Friday morning, August 9th, 2025, Goolsbee, who will have voting rights on the Federal Open Market Committee's monetary policy FOMC meeting in 2025, was asked if he felt uneasy about the Fed's potential rate cut timeline ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
Essentially, this is a very common question that is equivalent to asking whether the Fed's monetary policy makers will lower interest rates based on the 'political' interests of the election year or balance their interest rate decisions, which are 'driven solely by their mission.' As a Federal Reserve official who advocates central bank independence, Goolsbee's 'correct' answer to this question seems simple: just say 'no.' In other words, the Fed will not consider the election cycle but make data-driven decisions.
Goolsbee's real answer, however, was not so straightforward, leaving some 'gray areas.' He first acknowledged that the Fed might start easing before the November election, which made him 'a little' uneasy. He quickly added that elections are held periodically.
'So no matter what the Fed does, there will be people who say they don't like it. What we can do at the Fed is focus on what drives our decisions—our dual mandate, which is employment and inflation.'
Regarding Goolsbee's comments, financial blog Zerohedge commented that Goolsbee was not the first Fed-related person to break political taboos. William Dudley, the former 'third-in-command' of the Fed and the president of the New York Fed from 2009 to 2018, publicly published a column in 2019 after leaving office, calling on the Fed to raise interest rates in the final months of Trump's presidency to ruin his reelection chances.
Coincidentally, the day before Goolsbee's speech, Trump, who is running for reelection as the next president of the United States, once again targeted the Fed in a public speech, revealing his idea of weakening the Fed's independence after he was elected.
On Thursday, Trump said that the president of the United States should have a certain say on interest rates and monetary policy, considering himself 'better than Fed officials or their chairman' in many cases. Trump also criticized that Fed Chairman Powell's adjustments to interest rates were 'either a little too early or a little too late.'
After that, Wall Street saw that Powell, as the Fed's head nominated during Trump's presidency, has repeatedly stated his defense of the Fed's independence and promised not to let political pressure affect the Fed's decisions. Trump has publicly criticized the Fed's decisions many times during his presidency, criticizing the Fed's raising of interest rates and how it has hurt the country's economic growth, saying that the Fed is maintaining a policy rate that is too high, putting the US at a disadvantage compared to countries with lower rates, and even saying that Powell had 'no feeling' for the economy.
During this year's presidential election, Trump's attitude towards the Fed and Powell has been a major focus of attention.
On the eve of the first presidential debate with Biden last month, Trump said that if elected, he would allow Powell to finish his current term as Fed chairman until January 2028 and would not seek to dismiss him from his position before the end of his term, 'especially if I think he is doing the right thing.' Trump also said that the Fed should avoid lowering interest rates before the November U.S. presidential election.
When he attended the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists last week, Trump said that inflation and high interest rates were 'devastating' the United States, and if elected, he would 'drastically cut interest rates.'
