The Federal Reserve's Goolsbee warns against undermining central bank independence

The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Austan Goolsbee, warned of limits on central bank independence just days after President Donald Trump voiced his displeasure with Federal Reserve Chairperson Jerome Powell. "Economists almost unanimously agree that it's really important that monetary policy is independent of political interference - that the Fed or any central bank can do what it needs to do," Goolsbee said on Sunday's US media show. "I strongly hope we don't get into a situation where the independence of monetary policy is called into question," Goolsbee said. "That would damage the credibility of the Fed." In countries where central banks do not have monetary policy independence, "the reality is that inflation is higher, growth is slower and the job market is worse," Mr. Goolsby said.