Is It Too Late To End the Fed?

This week, editors Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch are joined by Reason reporter Eric Boehm to break down Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s signals of an upcoming interest rate cut and President Donald Trump’s very public pressure campaign on the Fed. They discuss what a rate cut could mean for jobs, inflation, and investment, how tariffs are distorting basic economic signals, and why the Fed’s growing politicization should worry anyone who values a functional economy.

The conversation then turns to the administration’s new trade deal with the European Union (E.U.), what it signals for tariffs, reciprocity, and the costs of everyday goods. They also field a question from a libertarian listener about former Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s (D–Ill.) appeal as a presidential candidate before examining the FBI’s raid on former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s home, weighing whether it’s a legitimate investigation into mishandled classified documents, or a case of political retribution.

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0:00—The impact of the Fed rate cuts

12:21—E.U. trade deal, tariffs, and their revenue

21:04—Cracker Barrel and the state of conservative commentary

33:07—Listener question on a Rahm Emanuel for president

42:19—FBI raids the home of John Bolton

51:21—Trump’s order on burning the U.S. flag

52:39—Weekly cultural recommendations

Mentioned in This Podcast

“Powell’s Last Stand,” by Liz Wolfe

“Tariffs Begin Taking a Bite out of the Economy,” by J.D. Tuccille

“Trump’s New Trade ‘Deal’ With the E.U. Leaves Out Beer, Wine, Booze,” by Eric Boehm

“The Europoors Are Choosing To Have Less Than Americans. It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way,” By Sam Bowman

“Trump’s Steel Tariffs Now Apply to Milk and Hundreds of Other Products That Aren’t Steel,” by Eric Boehm

“Trump’s Plans for Intel Take a Page From Bernie Sanders’ Playbook,” by Eric Boehm

“Cracker Barrel Didn’t ‘Go Woke.’ It Just Went Broke,” By Billy Binion

“The Justice Department’s Investigation of John Bolton Seems Like a Witch Hunt,” by Robby Soave

“My Conversations With John Bolton,” by Matt Welch

Ken Kleppenstein on X: John Bolton thinks Chelsea Manning should get the death penalty

Marcus Lemonis on X: official statement on California regulatory system

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• Producer: Paul Alexander
• Video Editor: Ian Keyser

The post Is It Too Late To End the Fed? appeared first on Reason.com.

Source: https://reason.com/podcast/2025/08/25/is-it-too-late-to-end-the-fed/