#institutional-independence

#institutional-independence

Economist Claudia Sahm is an expert (if not the expert) on the conditions that presage a recession and how policymakers should react as a result. She is the creator of "the Sahm Rule," an employment indicator monitored by everyone from central banks to the global financial giants. The Sahm Rule says that a recession is likely when the three-month moving average of the national unemployment rate rises by 0.5 percentage points or more, relative to the minimum of the three-month averages from the previous year.

News that Donald Trump's justice department has launched an investigation of Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, is the latest example of the president's governing philosophy: do what I want, or I will crush you. The desire to make Powell's life miserable is also a warning sign to anyone who thinks that they have an independent source of authority.

the former US president said institutions including law firms, universities and businesses that have changed course during the Trump administration should have stood by their convictions. Instead of bending to the administration, Obama noted that universities should say: This will hurt if we lose some grant money in the federal government, but that's what endowments are for. Let's see if we can ride this out, because what we're not going to do is compromise our basic academic independence.

Eisen, pointing to a Supreme Court precedent, said Trump's action was categorically different from other contested firings. He further accused the president of acting on partisan pressure from Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He continued: But Donald Trump doesn't care about the Constitution! He doesn't care that Congress has said you can only fire somebody for cause! He doesn't care that he has no cause here!