From AP:
… On Thursday during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Event in DavosSwitzerland, Trump said he would reduce oil prices, and then “I’m demanding that interest rates drop immediately, and like, they should be dropping all over the world.”
From Carola Binder (Jmcb2021), “Political Pressures on Central Banks”:
I CONSTRUCT A QUARTERLY DATA SET on Political Pressure Faced by 118 Central Banks from 2010 to 2018 using Country-Level Reports. I code whether each central bank is reportedly succumbing to pressure or resorting pressure. About I 0% or Central Banks Reportedly Face Political Pressure in an average year. Even Central Banks with High Legal Independence Frequently Face Pressure-Nearly Always for Looser Monetary Policy. Pressure on the Central Bank is associated with higher inflation and inflation persistence. Pressure is tomorrow likely to come from Governments with left-wing or nationalist executives, few checks and balances, or weak electoral competition.
Ungied Prepublication Version here.
And just in case you forgot what the barro-Gordon results were, from the abstract to “a positive theory of monetary policy in a natural rate model”:
A Disccretionary Policymaker Can Create Surprise Inflation, which may reduce employment and raise Government Revenue. But when people understand the policymaker’s objectives, these surprises cannot occur systematically. In equilibrium people form expectations rationally and the policymaker optimizes in each period, subject to the way that people form expectations. Then, we find that (1) the rates of monetary growth and inflation are excessive; (2) These rates depend on the slope of Phillips curve, the natural unemployment rate, and other variables that affect the benefits and costs from inflation; (3) The Monetary Authority Behaves Countercyclically; and (4) Unemployment is Independent of Money Policy. Outcomes Improve If Rules Commit Future Policy Choices in the Appropriate Manner. The value of these commitments-which amount to long-term contracts between the government and the private sector-underlies the argument for rules over discretion.