Trump’s Fed appointee pushes for far lower interest rates

Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran on Monday laid out his reasoning for much lower interest rates, aligning him with the White House in seeking looser monetary policy.

In his first major speech at the Economic Club of New York, Miran endorsed a benchmark interest rate that ranged between 2% and 2.5%. That’s far below the current 4% to 4.25% level that the central bank set last week in the first interest rate cut of President Donald Trump’s second term.

“Leaving short-term interest rates roughly two percentage points too tight risks unnecessary layoffs and higher unemployment,” he said.

Miran argued that economic growth would accelerate starting next year once the tax benefits of the megabill signed into law start reaching families and businesses. “I expect the second half of the year into next year to be better in terms of growth than the first half of this year, in large part because a lot of the effects of of the tax bill are going to be kicking in,” he said.

Miran, who’s on temporary unpaid leave from his job helming the White House Council of Economic Advisors, was also asked about a set of central bank reform proposals he authored last year for the Manhattan Institute think tank. One of those reforms was barring Fed governors from serving in the executive branch for four years “to further insulate board members” from politics.

He defended his decision to only take temporary leave. “If there were some reason that I would think that I would be in the seat past January, I’d resign,” Miran said in a moderated Q&A session. “Now at the moment, I don’t have such a reason.”

Miran also downplayed Trump’s blunt campaign to remake the Fed and pressure it into lowering interest rates, one of the president’s economic goals this year. Last month, Trump acknowledged he wanted to gain a majority in the Fed Board of Governors who favored easing borrowing costs.

“The president is entitled to his views on monetary policy. I think everyone’s entitled to their views on monetary policy, and I’m delighted to hear views from all sorts,” Miran said. “I think it’s very important to avoid group think that means hearing all views from all perspectives.”

Miran added he would be “forming my own views independently based on what I think is appropriate economics, based on what I think is appropriate analysis.”

Most members of the Federal Reserve deciding interest rates are penciling in three interest rate cuts over the next year. The job market has begun to demonstrate signs of sputtering out in the wake of Trump’s tariffs, which is clouding decisions by businesses to expand operations or hire more employees.