Being a central banker is hard work.
Being a central banker under Donald Trump, that's even harder.
After trying to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for alleged mortgage fraud and berating Fed Chair Jay Powell for his stance on interest rates,
the US President this week escalated his attacks on the world's most important central bank.
Trump's Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into Powell over testimony he gave last year relating to renovations of Fed buildings in Washington,
D.C.
But, said Powell, rather than following the preferences of the president.
Powell's term as chair ends in May, and Trump is set to nominate his replacement later this month.
But will the new Fed chair serve the public or the president?
This is The Economics Show.
I'm Claire Jones, the FT's US Economics Editor,
and I'm joined today by Don Cohn, a true Federal Reserve insider.
Cohen spent eight years on the Fed's Board of Governors, including four as the bank's vice chair.
He now serves as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Don, welcome to the show.
Thank you, Claire, for having me on.
I'm looking forward to the conversation.
Now, as we know, things move very quickly in Trumpland.
So for the record, we are recording this at 4pm on Tuesday the 13th of January UK time,
which is 11am for Don on the East Coast.