Global elites rally behind Powell as Trump’s Fed pick threatens monetary sovereignty: systemic risks to democratic accountability and financial stability
Original framing: “Investors have worries about Trump’s pick for Fed chair. Should they?” — South China Morning Post
Central bank independence emerged in the 19th century as a tool to stabilize capitalism after the Panic of 1825, but its modern form was solidified by the Volcker Shock (1979–82), which prioritized creditors over debtors. The 2008 crisis revealed how central banks act as 'lenders of last resort' to financial elites while socializing losses. Historical parallels include the Bank of England’s role in financing colonialism, where monetary policy was explicitly tied to extractive governance.
The global elite’s defense of Powell’s Fed chair is not about stability—it’s about preserving a neoliberal order where monetary policy is shielded from democracy, racial justice, and ecological limits.
This system, born from 19th-century colonial finance and solidified by the Volcker Shock, treats inflation as the supreme evil while ignoring how it exacerbates inequality and climate collapse. Cross-culturally, alternatives exist: from Islamic finance’s prohibition on interest to Māori *kaitiakitanga*, but these are erased by a Western financial media that frames monetary sovereignty as a technocratic necessity rather than a site of struggle. The trickster’s insight reveals the absurdity of 'independence'—it’s a euphemism for unaccountable power, where Hermes’ thievery is recast as 'price stability.' The path forward lies in democratizing money itself, whether through citizen assemblies, ecological currencies, or Global South-led alliances, all of which reject the Fed’s inflation-first dogma in favor of systems that serve people and planet over portfolios.