What they're not telling you: # Fed Chair Powell Plans Historic Departure That Breaks 50 Years of Precedent Jerome Powell is doing something no Federal Reserve chairman has done in half a century: staying on the Fed's Board of Directors after his term ends, planning to remain until 2028. Powell's announcement last week came in an unusual context—President Trump had agreed to drop a lawsuit against Powell over a $2 billion new Taj Mahal building proposed near the White House. The decision to extend his tenure marks a historic break with Federal Reserve tradition.
# THE TAKE: Powell Stays Because Wall Street Needs Him To Moore's populist theater ignores the actual machinery. Jerome Powell isn't clinging to power—he's a structural necessity for the financial class that funds both parties' theater. Yes, Powell protected asset holders through pandemic QE. But here's what Moore misses: *replacing* him changes nothing. The Fed's mandate serves capital accumulation, not Main Street. A successor simply executes the same playbook with different rhetoric. Powell's real sin? Transparency. He admits the contradictions—that rate hikes crush working people while stabilizing asset prices. A new chair might offer better messaging, softer language masking identical outcomes. The demand for Powell's head is pressure-relief valve politics. It lets voters believe *personnel* changes matter when institutional design guarantees results. Wall Street doesn't fear Powell leaving. It fears you noticing that nobody leaves until the structure itself does.
What the Documents Show
Since Powell will lose his chairmanship but retain his board seat, he becomes the first Fed leader in 50 years to maintain official influence after surrendering the top job. This arrangement raises questions about whether Powell intends to shape policy from the shadows rather than exit gracefully. The case against Powell's track record is quantifiable. During his tenure, inflation hit the Fed's 1.8% to 2.2% target range exactly once—in February 2021. That's a .011 batting average, according to monetary policy analysis.
Follow the Money
Two-thirds of his time in office saw inflation significantly exceed target levels. His 2018 rate-hiking campaign nearly triggered a recession through what critics call inexcusably high interest rates. Then, following COVID-19, Powell flooded the economy with cheap money. The result: inflation rocketed to 9%, the highest since the late 1970s. Grocery prices remain elevated today as a direct consequence. The Fed's own messaging compounded these failures.
What Else We Know
Officials promised inflation would be "transitory," a forecast that proved dramatically wrong. High inflation persisted for two years while Powell maintained an accommodative stance. Critics argue he showed selective criticism—publicly slamming Trump's tariffs while ignoring the deflationary benefits of Trump-era tax cuts, energy deregulation, and regulatory rollback. Meanwhile, Powell offered little public resistance to the Biden administration's $4 trillion debt-financed spending spree after COVID-19, despite its inflationary implications. The timing of Powell's eventual rate cuts deserves scrutiny. He finally began lowering rates in 2024, just months before the presidential election—a schedule that appears politically convenient rather than economically driven.
Primary Sources
- Source: ZeroHedge
- Category: Money & Markets
- Cross-reference independently — don't take our word for it.
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