2026-01-16
32 分钟The Economist.
The initial task this year is to get our government in such shape
that we can use it for our own purpose.
Not against anybody in particular, but for everybody in general.
That is Woodrow Wilson, giving a campaign speech in 1912,
the year he was elected president
and the year before he signed into law the Federal Reserve Act.
For more than 110 years, America's central bank has had license to set interest rates
free from political interference.
But that hasn't always stopped presidents trying their luck.
Lyndon B. Johnson piled pressure on Fed Chair William McChesney Martin
during his own presidency.
In taped private calls, LBJ pushed his Treasury Secretary, Henry Fowler,
to convince Martin to drop rates.
How could we get the 5% interest back in this country
and get our bond bills and our bonds selling under five?
You given me enough to let me explore very heavily with Mr. Martin the subject,
which I will do.
And LBJ wasn't the only one.
George H.W. Bush blamed an election loss on Alan Greenspan.