Trump vs the Fed: What does it mean for global trade and Ireland?

On this week’s episode, host Ciarán Hancock is joined in studio by the Irish Times economics experts Cliff Taylor and Eoin Burke-Kennedy.

Tensions are rising between US President Donald Trump and the Federal Reserve. Trump has made it very clear that he is no fan of Fed chief Jerome Powell who is due to step down from his post in May, and that he wants the Fed to be more aggressive with interest rate cuts to stimulate the economy.

Those tensions ratcheted up considerably when the US Department of Justice opened an investigation into Powell, and his handling of a $2.5 billion renovation of the central bank’s headquarters.

Powell has publicly pushed back and warned the independence of the Fed is at stake, and senior central bank figures from around the world have also expressed their support for Powell.

Cliff and Eoin also look at Ireland’s decision to vote against the Mercosur trade deal at EU level, it is still going to go through of course, but voting against it has led to charges of hypocrisy given all the talk from Government about Ireland being a small open economy that relies on the free movement of trade and services.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

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