Ex-Fed chairs condemn Trump’s bid to weaken central bank’s independence

Every living former head of the Federal Reserve condemned an “unprecedented” attempt by the Trump administration to weaken the US central bank’s independence, after the Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into its chair, Jerome Powell.Ex-Fed chairs Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen warned similar prosecutorial attacks in other countries had led to “highly negative consequences” for the cost of living – and argued they had “no place” in the US.Late on Sunday, it emerged that the justice department had served the Fed with grand jury subpoenas on Friday, threatening a criminal indictment related to Powell’s testimony before the Senate banking committee in June last year, regarding renovations to the Fed’s historic office buildings in Washington DC.In response, Powell argued he had been threatened with criminal charges because the Fed had set interest rates “based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president”.Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney in Washington and an ally of Donald Trump said in a statement on Monday night that the justice department took legal action because the Federal Reserve had ignored requests to discuss cost overruns in a project to renovate two historical buildings at its headquarters

Trump’s attempts to influence Fed risk 1970s-style inflation and global backlash’

Donald Trump’s attempts to influence the US Federal Reserve could risk plunging America into a period of 1970s-style inflation and trigger a global backlash in financial markets, economists have warned.After the US Department of Justice (DoJ) launched a criminal investigation into Jerome Powell, the current Fed chair, investors said efforts by the White House to pressure the US central bank to cut interest rates would put the world economy at risk.Analysts drew parallels with the 1970s when US inflation soared after the then president, Richard Nixon, pressured the then Fed chair, Arthur Burns, to ease monetary policy to help smooth his 1972 election campaign.Atakan Bakiskan, US economist at Berenberg bank, said: “If the Fed pursues an ultra-accommodative monetary policy despite higher inflation, the result could resemble the 1970s in a worst-case risk scenario.“Moreover, if the Fed acts on politics rather than data, foreign investors could pull back on financing the US debt and seek new safe havens

Justice department opens investigation into Jerome Powell as Trump ramps up campaign against Federal Reserve

The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve, a significant escalation in Donald Trump’s extraordinary attack on the US central bank.Powell said the Department of Justice had served the Fed with grand jury subpoenas on Friday, threatening a criminal indictment related to his testimony before the Senate banking committee in June last year, regarding renovations to the Fed’s historic office buildings in Washington DC.The US attorney’s office in the District of Columbia has opened a criminal investigation into Powell over the project, and whether Powell lied to Congress about its scope, the New York Times reported on Sunday.Allies of Trump spent months last year accusing the Fed of mishandling the multibillion-dollar renovations. Trump had repeatedly threatened legal action

UK business confidence weakened and hiring fell at end of 2025, surveys find

UK business confidence weakened sharply at the end of 2025 and hiring fell amid rising costs and uncertainty about the economic outlook, according to key business surveys.Contrasting with the prime minister’s optimistic new year message that the country was about to start feeling richer again, the jobs market weakened, with full-time and temporary appointments falling in December, according to a study by the accountants KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).Jon Holt, the group chief executive of KPMG, said: “The jobs market at the end of 2025 was still signalling caution. After a long stretch of rising cost pressures and higher global economic uncertainty, many firms continue to pause hiring and are flexing where they can by using temporary staff.“As we head into the new year, this restraint is likely to remain in the near term

Trump move for Venezuela’s resources likely to weaken economic might of US | Heather Stewart

The word “loot” entered the English language from Hindi in the late 18th century, as the rapacious East India Company plundered its way across the subcontinent.It was a trading company, not a state – but it had the imprimatur of the English crown and its own large private army, mingling commerce and military force and opening the way for British imperial dominance of India.Donald Trump’s dead-of-night raid on Venezuela last week was the act of a government, not a corporation. But it harked back to a more brazen age, when looting a continent for its resources at the point of a cannon was regarded as a legitimate activity for an English gentleman.The US president made no effort to disguise the fact that the main motivation for the snatching of Nicolás Maduro was taking control of Venezuelan oil reserves on behalf of the fossil fuel companies that helped bankroll Trump’s re-election

Wessex Water bosses handed £50,000 in extra pay despite Labour government’s bonus ban

The bosses of Wessex Water received £50,000 in previously undisclosed extra pay from a parent company, in the same year that the utility was banned from paying bonuses, the Guardian can reveal.Chief executive Ruth Jefferson and chief financial officer Andy Pymer were paid £24,000 and £27,000 respectively in the year to June 2025, according to a spokesperson for Wessex Water’s owner, the Malaysian YTL group.The payments came from Wessex Water Ltd, which is the parent company of Wessex Water Services Ltd, the regulated water supplier for 2.9 million customers in south-west England. YTL said the payments were not bonuses