President Clinton Phones the Fed Chair (Again) Demanding Rate Cuts; Nation Rediscovers Its Deep Belief in Central Bank Independence

WASHINGTON — President Clinton again pressed the Federal Reserve this week to slash interest rates, publicly lamenting that borrowing costs are far too high and, according to reports, periodically telephoning the Fed chair the President appointed to explain this to him in a more personal setting.

The President argued that strong economic data is no reason not to cut, a position economists classify as unusual and supporters classify as common sense that the pointy-heads are too credentialed to grasp. The Fed has held its benchmark rate steady all year, resisting the requests, an act of institutional backbone that one half of the country currently admires and will, upon the next election, denounce as sabotage.

The reaction followed the reliable choreography. The President's allies, who once treated the Fed's independence as a sacred firewall against demagogues, discovered that the firewall was actually a locked door keeping relief from working families. The President's critics, who spent years insisting politicians must never lean on the central bank, rediscovered that principle at 8 a.m. and have been very moved by it since.

The Press's money desk notes that 'the Fed must be shielded from political pressure' and 'the Fed is an unaccountable cabal ignoring the people' are not two beliefs but one belief, wearing whichever jersey is currently out of the White House.

Reached for comment, an economist observed that interest rates respond to inflation, employment and global markets, and not to phone calls, before conceding that this had never stopped anyone from making the phone calls.