THE SOCIAL MEDIA ECONOMIST: The death of pope Francis yesterday overshadowed what would have been the US news of the day … all three major stock indexes closed down sharply after President Trump in a social media post called Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell “a major loser” and called for the Fed to lower interest rates. Trump wrote, “There can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW.”

  With Trump’s tariffs and trade war already throwing uncertainty into the economy, investors are even more nervous about the President’s attacks on the head of the central bank.

  Trump in that same post claimed food and particularly egg prices are down since he became president … both not true. The price of gasoline has eased a bit and inflation ticked up slightly. The price of gold has hit a record $3500, a sign of nervousness out there.

  Trump is looking for lower interest rates to put a shot of adrenaline into the economy that has been damaged by everything else he’s done. But the independence of the federal Reserve is considered to be instrumental not only to the stability of the US economy, but the entire world.

CONVOCATION: Following the death of Pope Francis, The Vatican has entered the ritual period known in Latin as “sede vacante” … the seat being vacant. Mourning continues for nine days before the cardinals meet to choose a successor. The Vatican revealed yesterday that Francis suffered a cerebral stroke, slipped into a coma, and died of heart failure.

  About 20 percent of the world population is Catholic and the passing of a pope is always a major event.

  Among the rituals already performed have been the smashing of Francis’s papal ring with a hammer and sealing off his chambers with red ribbon. His closed coffin is expected to be on display in St. Peter’s Basilica, possibly as soon as tomorrow. The funeral is Saturday.

  Known as “The People’s Pope,” Francis stipulated in his will that he wants to be buried at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome in a simple tomb marked only “Franciscus.” 

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: 

— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attacked the press yesterday for its reporting that he had shared military attack plans over the unsecured Signal app with about a dozen people, including his wife, brother, and personal lawyer … people who had no clearance to know it.

  While not denying the story broken Sunday by The NY Times, Hegseth said; “This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and then they try to slash and burn people, and ruin their reputations.”

  Hegseth shared what is described as the same sensitive information last month in an unsecured group national security chat that accidentally included the editor of The Atlantic.

  Hegseth’s former spokesman John Ullyot wrote in an opinion for Politico that, “the building is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership,”  and, “There are very likely more shoes to drop in short order, with even bigger bombshell stories coming this week, key Pentagon reporters have been telling sources privately.”

  President Trump dismissed it all saying, “This is the same old stuff from the media.”

— Harvard University sued the Trump administration yesterday, fighting back against threats to slash billions of dollars from the school’s research funding in an effort to control academics and administration.

  The Trump administration has cast its campaign against multiple universities as a fight against antisemitism, while also attacking diversity equity initiatives and teachings about such “woke” subjects as racial diversity and gender issues.

— The purse of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was stolen Sunday evening at a Washington DC restaurant and the FBI is looking for the perp. Noem reported that the purse held her security badge, passport, driver’s license, medication, apartment keys, blank checks, and $3,000 in cash. Hmmmm. Noem said she had been planning to  pay cash for the dinner and Easter gifts for her extended family. 

— The Department of Education says that starting on May 5^th it will resume collections on defaulted student loans warning that borrowers could be referred to debt collectors or have wages garnisheed. This affects about 5.3 million people.

— First Lady Melania Trump made a rare public appearance yesterday with the President at the annual White House easter egg roll.

THE SPIN RACK:  Nadine Menendez, the wife of former New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, was convicted yesterday of participating with her husband in a complex bribery and corruption conspiracy. Her husband was found guilty last year of  selling political influence for gold, cash, and a Mercedes-Benz convertible. Despite all the lucre found in her home, Mrs. Menendez said, “I think this is politically motivated.” — Six security guards who hauled a Democrat heckler from a Republican town hall meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho have been charged with battery and false imprisonment. They’ve also been charged with failure to wearing identifiable uniforms as required by law. The woman in question, Teresa Borrenpohl, said she was merely trying to exercise her right to free speech. — The wife of Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia grad student and US resident now detained by ICE in Louisiana gave birth to a son. Homeland Security denied Khalil’s request to attend the birth.  — Nearly 300 passengers were evacuated from a Delta Airlines flight at Orlando International yesterday after an engine caught fire. It looked pretty scary.

BELOW THE FOLD: A survey by the language learning site Preply found that more than half of the 1,260 Americans they surveyed say they’re watching television shows and movies with subtitles on because the soundtracks are too muddled.

  Without subtitles, many viewers on old movie channels would never know whether Rhett Butler gives a damn.

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