{"id":1348518,"date":"2022-02-28T08:04:26","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T13:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1348518"},"modified":"2022-02-28T08:10:52","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T13:10:52","slug":"charles-gasparino-putin-played-jerome-powell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/charles-gasparino-putin-played-jerome-powell\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Gasparino: Putin Played Jerome Powell"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcharles-gasparino-putin-played-jerome-powell%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1348518&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"76\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=76&#038;h=69&#038;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-nyp_columnist size-nyp_columnist\" alt=\"Charles Gasparino\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=152 152w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=114 114w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=76 76w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png?w=38 38w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Gasparino_Charles_headshot.png 706w\" \/>\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>It\u2019s tempting to think that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell deserves the pickle he\u2019s in: He ignored inflation as \u201ctransitory\u201d when it wasn\u2019t. Now \u2014 after one of the biggest policy blunders in recent Fed history \u2014 he needs to raise interest rates, maybe significantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the timing couldn\u2019t be worse: A necessary and significant rate rise would come amid global instability sparked by<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/02\/24\/russia-putin-launches-invasion-of-ukraine\/\"> Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine<\/a>, and slowing the US economy could only strengthen Vladimir Putin\u2019s hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, there\u2019s no easy way out for Powell and the Fed, and you can bet he and his advisers are squirming over what to do. Nevertheless, don\u2019t rejoice over Powell\u2019s pain; it may be his fault and eventually he may be vilified for it, but it\u2019s the American people who will be paying the price.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Only bad choices\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>That price, of course, is all the bad choices that Powell has to choose from, including doing little or nothing with rate increases that will result in more ripping inflation and a massive tax increase on the working class. Or Powell could channel his inner hawk and possibly spark a recession because he waited too long to do his job.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Putin is smart enough to have figured in the Powell Pickle in his calculations for invading Ukraine. Sure, President Biden\u2019s weakness is well known and top-of-mind for the Russian dictator who watched (as we all did) Biden\u2019s bumbling <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/09\/24\/biden-on-afghanistan-withdrawal-there-was-no-easy-ending\/\">withdrawal from Afghanistan<\/a>, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/02\/23\/migrants-on-way-to-us-border-clash-with-police-in-southern-mexico\/\">daily chaos at our borders<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s weird fixation to appease the progressive left of his party has made Russia rich, and Putin sees that one as well. Listening the AOC-types, Biden has reduced oil production so much that <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/02\/24\/global-trade-to-suffer-more-after-russia-invasion-of-ukraine\/\">Europe is beholden to \u00adRussian energy supplies<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-putin-3.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-putin-3.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1024\" alt=\"Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual press conference\" class=\"wp-image-21348835\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-putin-3.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-putin-3.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-putin-3.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>The US government has announced sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin as he follows through with the invasion of Ukraine.  <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Mikhail Svetlov\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>All that is catnip for an autocrat looking to expand his empire, but there\u2019s more. Putin\u2019s kleptocracy has made him one of the world\u2019s richest men, bankers tell me, citing his net worth of $100 billion or more. Neither he nor his oligarch pals are too <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/02\/22\/these-are-the-russian-banks-and-elites-sanctioned-by-us\/\">concerned about Biden\u2019s sanctions<\/a> that oddly exclude <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/02\/26\/russian-banks-blocked-from-swift-international-payment-network\/\">restricting Russian use of the SWIFT<\/a> interbank clearing system, meaning the bad guys can still move money around when needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What seals the deal for Putin in his goals for European domination is the precarious state of the US economy. Despite some decent headline numbers (GDP growth and a low unemployment rate) the Fed botching the inflation threat has weakened the US at the worst possible time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Fed has a dual mandate of \u00adusing monetary policy (adjusting short-term interest rates and regulating the money supply through bond purchases or sales) to foster economic expansion and what\u2019s known as \u201cstable prices,\u201d aka low inflation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-putin-4.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-putin-4.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1024\" alt=\"A gas station marquee in Los Angeles.\" class=\"wp-image-21348836\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-putin-4.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-putin-4.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-putin-4.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Gas prices surge again as Russia invades Ukraine. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Ringo Chiu\/ZUMAPRESS.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There\u2019s good reason the Fed has traditionally put price stability above everything else: What good are higher wages for working-class people if they get eaten away by high food and energy costs and just about anything it takes to get through the day?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For nearly two years, Powell has simply ignored the second part of his mandate. It began with necessary and historic money printing during the pandemic to keep the markets functioning and the economy from collapsing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Powell didn\u2019t stop there. He kept printing money and even applauded Biden\u2019s progressive spending measures that discouraged work and <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/02\/10\/inflation-hits-four-decade-high-consumer-prices-surge-to-7-5\/\">allowed inflation to surge<\/a>. He did this when it was so obvious inflation wasn\u2019t transitory and couldn\u2019t be explained away by fixing the \u201csupply chain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Long-lasting problem\u00a0<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-2.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-2.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1024\" alt=\"A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange.\" class=\"wp-image-21348834\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-2.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-2.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/powell-2.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>The Dow dipped more than 500 points February 22 as Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Wang Ying\/ZUMAPRESS.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>More recently, Powell has been looking to put the genie in back in the bottle because inflation <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/11\/30\/jerome-powell-its-time-to-retire-term-transitory-inflation\/\">turned out to be a real, long-lasting problem<\/a>. He\u2019s tapering his money printing and signaling rate increases and squeezing money from the economy and markets in March. But they\u2019re scheduled to arrive after Putin\u2019s tanks entered Kyiv and he\u2019s ready to annex one of the largest nations in Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/02\/25\/russia-ukraine-war-live-updates-as-russian-troops-invade\/\"><strong>Get the latest<\/strong> <strong>updates<\/strong> <strong>in the Russia-Ukraine conflict with the Post\u2019s live coverage.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>The instability is frightening for investors, who accounted for the massive volatility in all the major indices last week. A nightmare scenario of stagflation \u2014 high inflation because of a spike in oil and a recession because of higher rates needed to tamp down inflation \u2014 was now in the cards.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Almost on schedule came a leak on Thursday, after <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/02\/22\/dow-futures-dip-over-russia-ukraine-tension\/\">the Dow was down<\/a> some 800 points, that the Fed may back off the severity of the rate hikes at least until the Russia mess is over and markets stabilize.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>On cue, the Dow recovered, making up all its lost ground and finishing the day up nearly 100 points. Behind the scenes, big investors reckoned the Fed can now back off significant rate hikes because Biden\u2019s sanctions were pretty weak; oil prices won\u2019t soar \u00adbecause Russia can keep producing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since oil and thus gas prices are a component of the inflation gauge known as the Consumer Price Index, inflation may look good on paper during the next CPI print in March, \u00adallowing Powell to back off the significant rate increases.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So the good times are here to stay? Not so fast. Powell has underestimated inflation for most of the year. With the US ratcheting back on oil production, why should oil prices fall back down to a more manageable $75 a barrel from their current levels above $90? That means he may have no choice but to flirt with an economic slowdown since history shows runaway inflation is almost always a harbinger of civil unrest.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The question many investors have: Is Powell\u2019s legacy more imperiled by the inflation threat, or causing a recession? I don\u2019t know but Putin doesn\u2019t care, which is why his tanks are in Kyiv as you read this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s tempting to think that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell deserves the pickle he\u2019s in: He ignored inflation as \u201ctransitory\u201d when it wasn\u2019t. Now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1348518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1348518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1348518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1348518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1348518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1348518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}