(WSJ) Presidnt Trump Wants to Run the Economy Hot. There’s a Good Chance He’ll Succeed.

Most years, presidents don’t have much impact on the economy; it is just too big and complicated.

This year won’t be like most years. President Trump is taking unprecedented steps to run the economy hot, and there is an excellent chance he’ll succeed.

Washington has three big levers that affect growth: fiscal policy (taxes and spending), monetary policy (interest rates) and credit policy (the ease of borrowing). Historically, they were not coordinated: Fiscal policy followed the congressional cycle, monetary policy was set by an independent Federal Reserve and credit policy reflected often random decisions by regulators.

This year, all three are dialed toward stimulus, reflecting a single-minded focus by Trump and congressional Republicans on faster economic growth. They hope that will deliver victory in the November midterm elections.

In the process, they are compromising other goals: taming debt, Fed independence and long-term financial stability. The consequences of that come later.

Read it all.

Under my taxonomy, there are 3 macro policy levers: fiscal, monetary and credit. This year, Trump has dialed all 3 towards stimulus in order to run the economy hot. This is unprecedented, and will probably work. The costs come later. https://t.co/7RTaSK2I5D

— Greg Ip (@greg_ip) January 14, 2026