What’s Behind Jerome Powell’s Woke Turn? Bidenomic – By Pete McGinnis (Real Clear Politics) / July 20, 2023
In February 2021, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress, “We are not climate policymakers here who can decide the way climate change will be addressed by the United States. We’re a regulatory agency that regulates a part of the economy.” When Powell said that, less than a month into the Biden administration, inflation was 1.6%.
Just eight months later, in remarks on November 22, 2021, President Biden said Powell – then up for renomination and facing stiff opposition from congressional progressives – “made clear to me: A top priority will be to accelerate the Fed’s effort to address and mitigate the risks – the risk that climate change poses to our financial system and our economy.” At that time inflation was 6.8%, on its way up to a 40-year high of 9.1%.
What changed? What caused Powell, a Republican originally appointed by President Trump, to go “freshly woke,” in Politico’s words? (Progressives had always thought him too conservative to steer the Fed in the direction they wanted.) And why would President Biden renominate a Fed Chair who was so clearly failing at his core mission of controlling inflation?
The answer is all around us: “Bidenomics.” The White House has consistently proven – by word and deed – inflation is not a priority. If it were, the administration wouldn’t be pumping trillions of dollars into the economy while dismissing the economic harm Americans have experienced. The administration is interested in lavishing money on its interest groups and its priorities. One such priority is reorienting much of American economic policy toward addressing climate change.
