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Presidential Rhetoric And The Federal Reserve, C. Damien Arthur

Political Science Faculty Research

Presidents persistently use their rhetoric as a mechanism of influence over salient policies. As the economy has become more salient, presidents have tried to gain a semblance of control over its direction and robustness. Yet, there exists no substantial research regarding whether the rhetoric is influential with the most important economic actors such as the Federal Reserve. Assessing whether presidential cues and signals shape the Fed’s economic behavior provides an assessment of rhetoric’s effect. Utilizing the economic speeches from D.D. Eisenhower through B.H. Obama this paper questions whether the Fed’s behavior modeled what the presidents wanted. Presidents have increased their …