The writer is a former supervisory board member of the European Central Bank and a senior fellow at Bocconi University and the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE
The emerging risks to the independence of the US Federal Reserve are sending tremors through global finance. More will come as President Donald Trump’s strategy to gain more direct influence over the Fed unfolds. Central banks around the world ought to prepare, because pressure on them will increase and so will their responsibility. The European Central Bank, presiding over the second most traded currency in the world, is first in line to be affected.
It may seem a long shot that the safeguards around central bank independence, supported by virtually all political sides and experts, can be overridden. But let us not be fooled. Even if today’s attacks — most notably attempts to sack Fed governor Lisa Cook — are delayed or even fail, the remaining three-and-a-half years are more than enough for Trump to achieve his goals.