While a new Fed chair might immediately lower short-term rates, the longer-term rates that matter to households and businesses – rates for business loans and home mortgages, for example – are set by markets, not by the Fed. And markets will ensure that those rates rise.

WASHINGTON, DC – US President Donald Trump reportedly polled a group of House Republicans last Tuesday about whether he should fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, even showing them a draft termination letter. Firing Powell would be a huge mistake on the merits – and it would increase interest rates at a time Trump wants to see them lowered.