Feb 12 (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve’s current monetary-policy setting threatens U.S. economic growth that otherwise is being “underwritten” by a range of Trump administration policies including tax cuts, Fed Governor Stephen Miran said on Thursday as he again laid out the case for more interest-rate cuts.
“The biggest risk I think to the economy is that we’re misconstruing just how tight monetary policy is,” Miran said at an event at the Dallas Fed, adding that he does not think there is an inflation problem.
“I have a hard time being concerned about inflation because really, really low shelter inflation can compensate for more inflation in other parts of the index,” Miran said.
“As long as I remain unconcerned about inflation, I think it makes sense to continue trying to underwrite the labor market with looser monetary policy, particularly as supply expands more than demand and the economy can grow without generating inflation.”
Miran, who was a White House economic advisor before he was appointed to the central bank, has been one of the Fed’s biggest advocates for easier policy. He pushed for bigger reductions than the Fed actually delivered at each of the last three policy reviews last year, and dissented in January when Fed policymakers voted 10-2 to leave rates in the current range of 3.50%-3.75%.
Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, who hosted the event at which Miran spoke, opposes further rate cuts.
Logan believes that Fed policy is doing little to restrain the economy, and is more worried about stubbornly high inflation than she is about the labor market. She did not comment on Thursday on her economic views or her monetary policy outlook.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Shri Navaratnam)
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