Federal Reserve Chairman Yellen's Very Bad Week

It was a bad week for the president of the United States and might prove to have been a career-ending week for the chair of the Federal Reserve Board. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is investigating whether Trump obstructed justice in connection with the FBI probe into Russian activities during the presidential election campaign. Mueller, a longtime colleague and close friend of James Comey, the FBI director fired by Trump, will be deciding whether to believe Comey's charge that Trump obstructed justice, or the president's denial. Mueller will have the help of a staff that includes lawyers who have contributed to the Democratic party. Trump has been around casinos long enough to know a stacked deck when he sees one, but cannot exercise his right to have Mueller fired lest he be accused of, er, obstructing justice.Janet Yellen, the Fed chair, announced that the Fed believes the economy is in fine shape, good enough to withstand another quarter-point rise in the key fed funds rate and a gradual sell-off of the mortgages and bonds the Fed bought in an effort to end the recession. She feels compelled to do this even though there are few signs that the economy is overheating. It seems to have grown at the measly annual rate of 1.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, and inflation is well below the Fed target of 2 percent. Although the unemployment rate is a low 4.3 percent, there is no sign that wages are rising at a rate that will drive costs and prices up, if indeed there is such a thing as cost-push inflation, which many economists doubt.