‘The Way The Fed Operates Is All Wrong’: Steve Forbes Tells Fed Not To Neglect ‘Its Sole Focus’

Editor-in-chief of Forbes and Republican businessman Steve Forbes ripped into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday on Fox Business’ “Kudlow,” telling Powell to focus on having a “stable value for the dollar” instead of mouthing off about tariffs.

Powell claimed to a panel on July 1 that the U.S. central bank would have lowered rates by now if President Donald Trump had not imposed sweeping reciprocal tariffs against a handful of countries, according to CNBC. Forbes discussed two key Republicans — former Fed Gov. Kevin Warsh and Trump’s top economic adviser Kevin Hassett — who are reportedly eyeing Powell’s position. Host Larry Kudlow asked Forbes about a potential change.

“Well, we have to see whether they can have a lot of those economists do something useful for humanity, like becoming Uber drivers. I don’t know what you can do in terms of replacing them,” Forbes said. “But in terms of the Fed governors and the like, I think what Secretary of the Treasury [Scott] Bessent and the president have to do is start laying the intellectual foundation [of] why the way the Fed operates is all wrong. Their philosophy is all wrong.”

“Prosperity does not cause inflation,” Forbes added. “The Fed has a really anti-growth bias, as you well know, and their focus should be not on trying to manipulate the economy. That did not work with the Soviet Union, and the feds made a hash of it here. They should focus on having a stable value for the dollar, what you would call King Dollar. That’s what should be their sole focus.”

Just days after Trump’s “Liberation Day,” Powell began to vocalize his uncertainty about the tariffs at an event, predicting a short-term increase in inflation due to the policy change. However, the Fed chairman said that “avoiding that outcome would depend on keeping longer-term inflation expectations well anchored, on the size of the effects and on how long it takes for them to pass through fully to prices.” (RELATED: Trump Unveils New Tariffs On Six Countries)

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In response to Powell’s concerns, Trump took to Truth Social to write that it would be the “perfect time” for Powell to cut rates before adding that the chairman needed to “stop playing politics.” Despite repeated calls for the interest rates to be cut from the president, by June the Fed announced in its fourth meeting of 2025 that it would continue to maintain its target range at 4.25% to 4.5%.

“So this thing on tariffs, the chairman mouths off about tariffs. There’s nothing the Fed can do about the effects of tariffs and the idea that if prices do go up, just for argument’s sake, there’s nothing the Fed can do about it,” Forbes said.

“So what do they want to do?” Forbes asked. “They want to depress the economy because they don’t like the effect of tariffs? That’s not their business. Their business is one thing only, stable value for the dollar, so we can trust the dollar again. How about that?”

Prior to reports of the Fed chairman potentially being replaced, tensions between Powell and Trump had risen, with the president calling for the chairman’s resignation. Trump once again took to Truth Social on July 2, reposting a Bloomberg article saying the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is now calling on Congress to investigate Powell.

“‘Too Late’ should resign immediately!!!” Trump wrote.

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