{"text":[[{"start":13.19,"text":"Donald Trump’s aggressive campaign for lower interest rates in order to reduce the cost of US debt is the rhetoric of a “banana republic”, said former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen."}],[{"start":26.619999999999997,"text":"Speaking at HSBC’s Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong, Yellen sounded the alarm on monetary policy independence, saying that she has “never seen a threat of this level to the Fed before”."}],[{"start":39.76,"text":"“How often does the president of a developed country express the view that the interest rate should be set to reduce the debt service cost?” she said. “This is what you hear in a banana republic.”"}],[{"start":52.69,"text":"Managing interest rates for the sake of the government budget, she said, has led to “hyperinflation” in such countries."}],[{"start":61.23,"text":"The US president has spent much of his second term attacking the Fed for its refusal to slash borrowing costs, labelling Yellen’s replacement as chair, Jay Powell, a “numbskull” and “moron”."}],[{"start":74.92,"text":"Yellen was Treasury secretary during the Biden administration."}],[{"start":79.57000000000001,"text":"She predicted that Trump’s nominee for Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, would struggle to establish “credibility” with colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee if he argued that productivity gains from artificial intelligence justified lower interest rates."}],[{"start":96.37,"text":"Alongside other members of the administration, Warsh has compared the current macroeconomic moment to the 1990s, when Alan Greenspan, then the Fed chair, gambled on holding rates steady amid a productivity boost from the emerging IT sector."}],[{"start":114.5,"text":"“[Greenspan] looked at evidence in a different way than many economists do. But I think he was very much respected for his economic expertise on the FOMC. And people listened to what he said very respectfully and took it seriously.”"}],[{"start":130.88,"text":"“I don’t think that Warsh walks in with that level of credibility,” said Yellen, who participated in those debates as a Fed board governor from 1994 to 1997."}],[{"start":143.26,"text":"Posts on Trump’s Truth Social platform have linked lower short-term borrowing costs to lower debt repayments for the US government. "}],[{"start":152.35,"text":" “Our Fed Rate is AT LEAST 3 Points too high,” Trump posted in July. ‘Too Late’ is costing the U.S. 360 Billion Dollars a Point, PER YEAR, in refinancing costs. No Inflation, COMPANIES POURING INTO AMERICA. ‘The hottest Country in the World!’ LOWER THE RATE!!!” "}],[{"start":174.35,"text":"Yellen cast doubt on the argument that AI-driven productivity gains would immediately damp US inflation, which is currently spiking after energy prices soared due to the US-Israeli war in Iran."}],[{"start":188.14,"text":"“I really don’t see the FOMC accepting this in the short run. First of all, because the evidence isn’t clear.”"}],[{"start":195.69,"text":"“And second of all because we can all see the surge in investment spending, consumer spending, our portfolios have been [boosted] by equity price increases and we’re really not seeing much disinflationary impact.”"}],[{"start":212.01999999999998,"text":"While the Fed cut its benchmark federal funds rate three times last year, the current target range of 3.5-3.75 per cent is well above the one per cent Trump wants. "}],[{"start":225.42,"text":"Trump’s attacks on the Fed have raised concerns among economists that the world’s most important central bank’s capacity to set interest rates free from political pressure is under threat."}],[{"start":237.57,"text":"Yellen said that despite concerns about inflation she expected the Fed to announce one interest rate cut by the end of the year."}],[{"start":246.10999999999999,"text":"“My guess would be that maybe there would be a cut later in the year. I think that’s entirely possible, maybe the main scenario,” she said."}],[{"start":264.68999999999994,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776265067_5745.mp3"}