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76. That's how many executive orders, as of this recording, President Trump has signed so far.
That is more than any president this early in their term.
He has been spilling the presidential ink.
And as we know, many of these orders will be tied up in court for the foreseeable future.
But we want to focus on two of these executive orders as they relate to the economy.
Today on the show, what an executive order means for the future independence of the Federal Reserve.
And why the Doge cost cutting spree is not likely to make much of a dent in federal spending.
That's coming up after the break.
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The Federal Reserve has two main jobs.
The first one is what we hear about most of the time, making sure the amount of money flowing through the economy is just right, making sure there's not too much inflation or unemployment.
That's what Wonks call monetary policy.
The other main job is keeping banks running smoothly.
And it does this by regulating and supervising the financial system.
Both of these jobs are done at arm's length from Congress or the president.
You know, the Fed is independent.
Trump signed an executive order in mid -February to make sure agencies follow the president's priorities.
It put tighter control on how these agencies spend and regulate.
And it applied to agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Federal Reserve.
Now there's one big estrusque The executive order says it only applies to the Federal Reserve's role in safeguarding the financial system.
It doesn't apply to the Fed's raising and lowering of interest rates to fight inflation and protect jobs, you know, monetary policy.
Catherine Judge is a law professor at Columbia University.
There is an effort to signal, look, we don't want to mess with monetary policy.
So it seeks to provide a little bit of calm and status quo maintenance.
Katherine says it's widely accepted that less independent central banks end up with higher inflation.
Research backs this up.
Trump doesn't want to stoke fears that we're going to have persistent inflation by changing the leadership structure of the Fed or his control over the Fed in ways that would give him the ability to dictate interest rates.
The evidence is less clear about the effects of having the Fed's bank supervision and regulation role under the grip of politicians.
And so it makes sense that President Trump specifically carved out the Fed's monetary policy as staying independent.
But the big question is how this division would work in practice.
It also raises questions over how the Fed might intervene when something goes wrong.
For example, when Silicon Valley Bank ran into financial trouble in 2023, the Fed stepped in to lend it money.
Would those decisions now be subject to White House review?
Catherine says the...
