Despite double dissent, Jerome Powell retains his hold on markets

For all the power it wields over the global economy, the Federal Reserve projects remarkable cool. Whereas rate-setters at other central banks frequently disagree with each other over the direction of monetary policy, Fed policymakers tend to stick together. That serenity is now being ruptured, just as President Donald Trump ramps up his attacks on the Fed, and his tariffs put America’s economy to the test. On July 30th two rate-setters, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, voted against the majority decision to keep interest rates unchanged at 4.25-4.5%, preferring to cut them by a quarter of a percentage point instead. It is the first “double dissent” by governors on the Fed’s board in more than 30 years.