President Donald Trump has boxed himself in. First, he ran a reality-television-style contest to pick the next Federal Reserve chairman and named four finalists. Then, he stoked anticipation for a ridiculously early decision despite the fact that the post won’t become vacant until May. And now, it turns out he’s unhappy with the contenders — cry me a river! Fortunately, he still has good options if he can summon some rare pragmatism.
As my Bloomberg News colleagues reported Tuesday, Trump seems to be searching for an “elusive unicorn”: a loyalist who can simultaneously appeal to the president’s political base, withstand the Senate confirmation process and command market credibility such that longer-term borrowing costs will decline.