Will the Fed be allowed to do its job?

In the year ahead, with the Fed’s ability to skate independently already compromised, the question is whether the Fed will be allowed to manoeuvre when the game calls for it. — Reuters

AS candidates vie to become the next chair of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), they should heed the hockey legend Wayne Gretzky’s advice to “skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been”.

With many economic pucks in play – from sticky inflation, mounting deficits, and an artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom to potential financial fragility and concerns about the dollar’s global primacy – a big question for the global economy is whether the Fed will be allowed to do what it needs to do.