Fed Governor Miran defends call for bigger interest rate cut
Fed governor has positive economic outlook for second half of the year
New Federal Reserve governor reveals whether his economic outlook is positive or negative
Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran unpacks the agency’s decision to cut interest rates, the state of the U.S. economy and more on ‘Kudlow.’
Newly confirmed Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran on Friday defended his stance on wanting an interest rate cut of 50 points as opposed to 25 points.
"My view is that there's a number of disinflationary forces in the works that are coming into play that will be bringing inflation down in the near term," Miran said during an interview on FOX Business Network's "Kudlow."
"For example, lower immigration. My view is that the supply of housing adjusts only very sluggishly, and if you throw millions of new residents, millions of immigrant residents, into a relatively fixed supply of housing, you get lots of shelter inflation, rents go higher. We've stopped that. The border is closed, and, you know, probably well over a million migrants have gone home in the first half of this year alone. That, to me, is profoundly disinflationary, and it's in the pipeline."
Miran also took exception to those who say that tariffs are inflationary.
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Stephen Miran was confirmed to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors on Sept. 15. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
"I see no evidence there's been inflation from tariffs whatsoever," he said. "To me, if I were going to look for evidence of inflation of tariffs, I would think that import-intensive core goods would be inflating more than overall core goods, which is not the case."
President Donald Trump tapped Miran, who formerly led the White House Council of Economic Advisers, on Aug. 7 to fill the seat vacated by Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler, who resigned in August. Miran will finish the remainder of Kugler’s term, which ends Jan. 31, 2026.
Miran told lawmakers during his nomination hearing Sept. 4 that he would take unpaid leave from his White House position while he serves on the Fed’s Board of Governors.
President Donald Trump tapped Miran to fill the seat vacated by Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Miran also said he has a positive outlook for the economy for the rest of the year.
"Look, I mean, I think the first half of the year was not as strong as I would have hoped, but as I've said, in other places, I think a lot of it was due to uncertainty," Miran said.
Miran also said he has a positive outlook for the economy for the rest of the year. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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"We had uncertainty that we might have the biggest tax hike in history," he added. "We had uncertainty as we had a massive change in trade policy. That uncertainty dissipated, right? The tax bill was recently passed by the Congress, which avoided that large tax hike. By and large, trade deals are made with most of our important trading partners. That uncertainty is gone, so I expect the second half of the year to be better."