Powell to Trump: “You’re not the boss of me!”

Jerome Powell made headlines this week, and not just because the Fed decided to cut rates again. 

Just two days after Trump’s re-election, Powell held a press conference where, among other things, he declared that he would not step down if the president asked him to.

Oh.

This bold move underscores something many people don’t realize: the Federal Reserve operates with near limitless autonomy and power.

It was created in 1913 after a secretive meeting on Jekyll Island—a story most people don’t hear about unless they’re digging around in the history of money (or reading The Tuttle Twins and the Creature from Jekyll Island to their kids). And yet, this institution, born out of political maneuvering and elite special interests, now influences almost every aspect of our lives. 

The Fed can raise or cut interest rates, which impacts your mortgage and savings, or flood the market with money, devaluing your hard-earned dollars with the stroke of a key—all without any oversight from Congress or the president.

Powell’s assertion that the president “lacks the legal authority” to remove him is true. 

It’s also a reminder that the Fed answers to no one but itself. And that’s pretty scary.

Because the Federal Reserve doesn’t just set monetary policy—it shapes our financial reality. 

Trump and Powell will likely continue to make headlines as they battle for control, but the real issue isn’t who’s in charge—it’s whether an institution wielding this much extra-democratic power should even exist at all.

Of course I believe that we should end the Fed. 

In fact, “End the Fed” has been my battle cry (and the battle cry of others like me who see the threat it is to our well-being and prosperity) for decades. 

I’ve even got the t-shirt. And the license plate.

We have to teach our kids about money. 

They have to learn who controls it, how it works, and how it can be used for both good and bad.

In The Tuttle Twins and the Creature from Jekyll Island, we teach kids the history of the Fed by showing them the little-known story of how and why it was created. We help them understand why things like inflation, recessions, and economic booms happen, and why those at the top often benefit from the harm their practices and policies cause to regular people.

Our kids deserve more than a dumbed-down version of finance where money is just something you spend. They need to know how the system works, so they can navigate it—and hopefully even improve it. 

That’s the whole reason we study history, right? To learn, to apply, and to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again.

Veterans Day is around the corner, and while everyone observes it in their own way, I always think that one of the best ways we can honor those who have served is by making sure the next generation doesn’t end up fighting the same battles—economic, political, or otherwise—that they’ve already fought. 

And the best way to avoid repeating the past is to teach our kids about it, so they can recognize dangerous patterns and practices when they observe them in the present.

That’s why we’re offering over 70% off our America’s History books during our Veterans Day sale. Because people who know their history, and understand how it applies to the present, are very difficult to manipulate or control. 

And there’s nothing I want more than to help parents raise a generation of kids who will put an end to the dangerous repetitions that the powerful elites have depended on to keep us poor, war-weary, and fearful for so long. 

A new day is dawning. Our future is bright. We have work to do.

— Connor