#320 Chris Whalen: How To Really Reform The Fed

Chris Whalen, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors and author of The Institutional Risk Analyst blog, joins The Julia La Roche Show for "The Wrap with Chris Whalen." In this episode, Chris Whalen breaks down why Kevin Hassett may have blown his chances for Fed Chair by walking back Trump's views, discusses Kevin Warsh as the emerging frontrunner, and explains his reform proposal to return to a decentralized Fed with 15 district banks focused solely on sound money. He reveals why Trump's rhetoric about interest rates is backfiring (pushing the 10-year UP instead of down), predicts a home price correction in 2027-28, and explains why 3% inflation is now the new target. Whalen also discusses why gold and silver are still in early innings, how commercial real estate pain is being quietly resolved in the background, why good bank numbers mask concerning private credit risks, and answers a viewer question about BOJ rate hikes potentially triggering a broader correction. Links: The Institutional Risk Analyst: https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/ https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/post/theira785 Inflated book (2nd edition): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/inflated-r-christopher-whalen/1146303673 Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rcwhalen Website: https://www.rcwhalen.com/ https://international-economy.com/TIE_Su25_Whalen.pdf Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome Chris Whalen 01:10 Kevin Hassett: Did he blow his chances for Fed Chair? 03:38 Reforming the Fed: Decentralized model vs FDR's changes 04:11 How decentralization would change Fed policy 06:08 Fed must be independent of President, not Congress 07:44 Post-1935 power concentration with Fed Chair 08:11 How centralization distorted monetary policy 09:17 Has the Fed been acting like its own hedge fund? 10:30 Home price correction coming in 2027-28 11:14 Subscribe reminder 11:52 Trump's rate talk pushing yields UP not down 12:56 Advice to Trump: Talk about growth and jobs, not rates 14:09 Kevin Warsh as emerging frontrunner for Fed Chair 15:17 Scrap the dual mandate, focus on sound currency 16:41 CPI print this week: 3% is the new target 17:23 Raising conforming limits encourages more inflation 18:42 Gold, sound money, and what Treasury should do 20:14 Is sound money viable? 21:33 Roosevelt's New Deal legacy and today's problems 22:53 Silver all-time high, gold north of $4,300 - still early innings 24:22 Commercial real estate pain and which banks are exposed 27:10 Private credit, NDFIs and why good bank numbers are concerning 29:37 Inflation driving everything in New York and beyond 30:22 Viewer question: BOJ rate hikes and impact on risk assets 31:44 Wrap up, year-end predictions preview and where to find Chris