Trump's Fed nominee Stephen Miran critical of China monetary policies
Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Stephen Miran is President Donald Trump's nominee to become the Federal Reserve's next governor, but his name is largely unknown to the American public.
Miran, 41, visited the White House on Tuesday for reasons unknown, but his candidacy to temporarily fill a vacancy on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors likely will make Miran's name more familiar with those who pay attention to the Federal Reserve's lending rate.
Miran is a Harvard-educated tariffs advocate with a doctorate in economics who views China as rigging the global monetary system to ensure it has a competitive edge over the United States, according to a recent Fortune profile of Miran.
Miran told Fortune that, while working as a currency-focused economist on Wall Street in his late 20s, he noticed China's monetary policies devalued its renminbi currency while boosting the value of the U.S. dollar.
"The currency markets are a bit of the wild wild West," he told Fortune. "All sorts of things happen that shouldn't happen in an economics textbook."
Miran said nations such as China heavily manage their respective currencies, which makes global markets "behave in weird ways."
China's monetary policies cause the U.S. dollar to be overvalued while undervaluing its renminbi, he explained.
The result, he said, is a U.S. trade deficit with China due to increased exports from China to the United States while greatly reducing the flow of U.S.-made goods to China.
China ranks as the world's second-largest economy, while the United States remains the world's economic leader.
China has erected market barriers for U.S.-made goods by imposing tariff rates that are higher than the U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made goods, stealing Internet technologies and utilizing other "non-market barriers," Miran said.
"Watching the accumulation of Chinese currency reserves in dollars accruing from exports was absolutely eye-opening," he told Fortune.
China's monetary and trade policies robbed the United States of jobs while punishing it for being the world's largest economy, Miran said.
Miran chairs the Council of Economic Advisers and likely will become the Federal Reserve's next governor for a temporary term through January.
"He has been with me from the beginning of my second term," Trump said when announcing Miran's nomination.
"His expertise in the world of economics is unparalleled," Trump added. "He will do an outstanding job."
If confirmed by the Senate, Miran will replace former Federal Reserve Gov. Adriana Kugler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2023 and was to serve until January.
Kugler resigned her position as one of seven Fed governors without saying why and ended her governorship on Friday.
Trump suggested Kugler resigned because she dissented from the Federal Reserve's recent announcement that it would maintain its current lending rate of between 4.25% and 4.5% instead of lowering it.
Miran would serve the remainder of the term for Kugler's vacant seat and would be eligible for a subsequent 14-year term, which is the standard term for a member of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors.
The Senate is in recess but will reconvene in early September and would vote on Miran's nomination prior to the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meeting that is scheduled Sept. 16-17.
Trump said he likely will nominate someone else to permanently replace Kugler.
The president also will seek a replacement for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May.
Trump has contemplated firing Powell due to the Federal Reserve not reducing its current lending rate since shortly before the Nov. 5 general election.
Federal officers, National Guard patrol Washington
President Donald Trump announced he is placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and deploy the National Guard to the district to assist in crime prevention. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
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