Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will be giving a much-awaited speech at this Friday’s (Aug. 22) central bankers’ meeting at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and he is coming “under fire on multiple fronts,” the Financial Times reported, including “fierce attacks from Donald Trump and a growing insurgency within his own institution.” Trump has been bashing Powell, demanding that he lower interest rates. But now there is a new member of the Fed who will carry Trump’s water on this and other issues: Stephen Miran.
“Stephen Miran, the economist he has chosen to replace Adriana Kugler following her abrupt departure from the central bank’s policy-setting board, has endorsed Trump’s calls for interest rate cuts,” FT reported. “He has also pushed for an overhaul in Fed governance that would hand presidents the power to dismiss the likes of Powell at will.… Assuming Miran is confirmed by the Senate in time for the September 16-17 Fed meeting, that will leave Powell facing three dissenters from within his own seven-strong board.”
