A "chaotic, incoherent trade war" was pretty much priced in when Donald Trump returned to the White House, said Robin Wigglesworth on FT Alphaville . What was unknown was whether he'd risk "financial-economic calamity" by launching an assault on the independence of the US Federal Reserve. Well, now we've got our answer. "In a stunning escalation" of his attacks on the central bank, the US president has fired one of its seven board governors , Lisa Cook – claiming there is "sufficient reason" to believe she made false statements on her mortgage documents.

Cook denies the allegation and is lawyering up, said Stephen L. Carter on Bloomberg . The Supreme Court is likely to uphold her case, having earlier ruled it would shield the Fed from at-will removals by Trump. Nonetheless, she'll f

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