Stephen Miran

Announced as Trump’s nominee for Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.

As President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Council of Economic Advisers, Stephen Miran is poised to influence fiscal and monetary policies that align with both Trump’s economic agenda and with Project 2025’s proposals on fiscal and monetary policy, backing reciprocal trade. Trump has promised to make America the “crypto capital of the planet,” and in picking Miran, an advocate of** not **establishing a central bank digital currency, a policy Project 2025 *Mandate for Leadership *Federal Reserve chapter calls for: “Prevent the institution of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). A CBDC would provide unprecedented surveillance and potential control of financial transactions without providing added benefits available through existing technologies.”

In July of 2024, Miran, based on no concrete evidence but assured by his view “that there is no other plausible alternative,” wrote a paper accusing the Biden administration Treasury and Federal Reserve of coordinating and manipulating the U.S. government debt market. Miran explains further in an interview “because it’s a political advantage for them to do so.” US Treasury Secretary Yellen firmly rejected similar accusations. Miran responded to pushback by saying “I mean, I agree there’s no smoking gun […] there’s no letter or email […]” Miran has previously advocated for reforms to the Federal Reserve’s governance structure, proposing that the president should have the authority to remove Federal Reserve Board members at will, limiting board terms to eight years, and elevating the 12 Fed banks across the country to have more power by “nationalizing Reserve Banks” and allowing governors of the states in their districts to select their boards of directors.

Miran is a fellow, alongside Oren Cass, Chris Rufo, Evan Baehr of Leonard Leo’s Teneo Network, and Diana Furchgott-Roth, at Manhattan Institute. An associate member of the State Policy Network, Manhattan Institute has been funded by Paul Singer, a billionaire hedge fund manager who serves as the Institute’s chairman, and by the Mercer Family Foundation, led by Rebekah Mercer, who has served as a board member alongside Singer. Additionally, the Institute has received funding from the Charles Koch Foundation and several other Charles Koch-vehicles. Miran serves as a senior strategist at Hudson Bay Capital, and he formerly served as an advisor of economic policy for the Department of the Treasury from 2020-2021 under Stephen Mnuchin as secretary of the Treasury.

Miran writes, “Following the Dodd-Frank reforms of 2010, the Fed needs the permission of the Treasury secretary to set up a facility; but once it is established, the Fed has prerogative over terms, eligibility, and prices, and the secretary cannot direct the Fed to channel credit to a particular segment of the economy. Oversight by an official accountable to voters is therefore limited, despite the political nature of the selection of winners and losers by credit rationing and deciding whom to infuse with cash by buying debt.” His report continues, “Bank regulation, too, has veered into outright political territory. The U.S. is a participating member in the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, an international group establishing regulatory standards respecting the regulation, supervision, and risk management of the banking sector.” Miran’s report also opposes Fed authority in regulating bank mergers: “Similarly, regulatory decisions related to bank mergers and resolutions involve the Federal Reserve in unnecessary debates about market concentration and political economy. While the Fed purports to carry out a congressional mandate, such an incremental grant of authority pollutes the ability of the central bank to maintain the independence necessary for implementing effective monetary policy.” He ultimately argues that the Federal Reserve is no longer independent, writing “When the Fed backs one party’s economic proposals, it has the effect of an intervention in electoral politics, even if that is not the Fed’s intent,” and concluding that “Powell’s entry into the fiscal package debate was categorically inappropriate for a Fed chair…”

His analysis echoes Project 2025’s *Mandate for Leadership *chapter on the Federal Reserve, and serves as pretext for what Trump promises- politicization of fiscal and monetary policy. *Mandate for Leadership *alleges, “During the stagflation of the 1970s, Congress expanded the Federal Reserve’s mandate to include ‘maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.’ In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, the Federal Reserve’s banking and financial regulatory authorities were broadened even further. The Great Recession also led to innovations by the central bank such as additional large-scale asset purchases. Together, these expansions have created significant risks associated with ‘too big to fail’ financial institutions and have facilitated government debt creation. Collectively, such developments have eroded the Federal Reserve’s economic neutrality.”

Miran supports deregulation, stating “deregulation is not just disinflationary; it’s outright deflationary.” Reducing regulatory burdens could significantly lower costs across sectors. In his book, Miran praised Mandate for Leadership author and former Trump Director of the United States Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, Peter Navarro, and former Trump United States Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, writing “In the Triffin world, the demand for reserve assets causes persistent deviations from the equilibria in currency markets that would balance trade. This disequilibrium in trade occurs because the real exchange rate is too strong. Exchange rate overvaluation can be redressed by tariffs, as discussed above, or by addressing the undervaluation of other nations’ currencies, as occasionally floated by President Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and former Trump Administration officials like Peter Navarro and Robert Lighthizer.”

Miran has defended Trump’s push for a weaker dollar as a tool to address trade imbalances with China, describing the U.S.-China economic relationship as “the central question of the 21st century.” Miran has accused China of cheating and stealing through currency manipulation and export-driven policies, labeling their currency practices as “extremely mercantilist.” Miran has suggested tariffs as a key negotiating tool for securing international agreements, stating, “Tariffs are a tool for procuring agreement on international policies that can improve the international trading system and the and the economy of the United States, so while I would be surprised if the soft dollar policy were the first resort on day one of of a potential second Trump Administration, it wouldn’t surprise me if it were a policy that were pursued later in an Administration after tariffs had produced the sufficient negotiating leverage.” Miran also posted on X, “I’m thrilled that President Trump is already using tariffs to gain negotiating leverage to improve security outcomes for Americans. About time we actually tackled problems instead of letting them slide.”

Miran has reacted cautiously to proposals for the U.S. Treasury to establish a crypto reserve, citing challenges related to liquidity and price movement. He noted, “I do know that it’s not really the most liquid asset in the world, and that I don’t know like if if you were trying to trade crypto how much you’d end up moving the the price level to the extent that you really couldn’t buy the sizes that you that you wanted. I don’t know exactly how that works” while pointing out that the U.S. government already holds Bitcoin reserves from Department of Justice seizures.