The Julia La Roche Show, Released on 7/31/25 (Recorded on 7/30/25)

Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and Chief Strategist at QI Research, joins Julia La Roche in-studio on Fed day to analyze the historic FOMC meeting featuring the first double dissent since 1993, arguing it could have been a triple dissent based on softened statement language. She criticizes Powell’s dismissive handling of the dissenters and Trump’s public attacks on the Fed chair, warning of an “Armageddon scenario” if Trump continues his pressure campaign. DiMartino Booth presents data showing the US entered recession in Q2 2024, with job losses, rising underemployment, and deflation in key sectors like hotels and airlines. She argues Powell could secure his legacy by admitting he’s wrong about the job market being “solid” when data shows jobs are increasingly hard to get.

0:00 Welcome and introduction – FOMC day reaction
1:05 Historic double dissent – first since 1993
3:04 History of Fed dissents – why they disappeared after 1996
6:48 Powell’s dismissive handling of dissenters
8:26 Why dissents should be healthy for Fed decision-making
9:23 Trump’s embarrassing public beratement of Powell
10:52 The Armageddon scenario – what happens if Trump pushes too hard
13:13 Will Powell stay? Hell would freeze over before he leaves
15:00 Powell’s path to securing his Fed legacy
16:40 Jobs hard to get rises to highest of cycle – 18.9%
17:26 US economy entered recession in Q2 2024
19:13 Deflation signals – hotel revenues and airline travel down
20:25 Core PCE market-based pricing is negative 0.3%
21:23 Gig economy collapse – Uber drivers earning 60% less
22:41 Biggest risk – Fed’s tone deafness to job market reality

Danielle DiMartino Booth is CEO & Chief Strategist for Quill Intelligence LLC, a research and analytics firm. She spent nine years as an advisor to Richard W. Fisher at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Danielle left the Fed in 2015 to found Money Strong, LLC, an economic consulting firm and launched a weekly economic newsletter She is the author of Fed Up: An Insider’s Take on Why the Federal Reserve is Bad for America. DiMartino Booth began her career in New York at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and Credit Suisse, where she worked fixed income and the public and private equity markets. Danielle earned her BBA as a College of Business Scholar at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Texas at Austin and an MS in Journalism from Columbia University.

  economy, Fed, Trump