Trump’s Fed pick, Stephen Moore, promises to help Powell grow US economy
Stephen Moore, President Trump’s pick to serve on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, told FOX Business his goal is to help Fed Chair Jerome Powell grow the U.S. economy.
“I just want to make Chairman Powell the most successful chairman ever in the history of the Federal Reserve,” he said on “Bulls & Bears” Wednesday.
Moore, who has been the focus of reports over unpaid taxes and alimony amid a messy divorce, said he is focused on getting confirmed by the Senate so he can get going on setting governing policies that produce stable prices, high employment, wage gains and economic growth.
“I am a believer we can have three to four percent real growth with no inflation, high employment and I reject the idea that growth causes inflation,” he said.
Moore, a stout and longtime, supporter of the Trump administration, says he can maintain his independence if confirmed as Fed governor amid Trump's steady and frequent attacks Chairman Jerome Powell.
“There are a lot things I disagree with [Trump] on and I am going to focus on stable prices, a strong and stable dollar,” he said.
The U.S. central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is responsible for setting an independent monetary policy and rates that set borrowing costs for consumers, on credit cards, mortgages and auto loans among other things. The Fed raised rates four times in 2018, irking Trump who has accused policymakers of slowing U.S. economic growth.
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In March, the Fed voted to hold the benchmark federal funds rate steady, unanimously agreeing to keep interest rates unchanged at a target range of 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent and signaled few to no rate hikes for the rest of the year.
Still, top White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow , is calling for the central bank to cut interest rate by 50-basis points over the global growth slowdown that’s taking place. Moore, who was critical of the Fed’s interest hikes last December, said he prefer to take a cautious approach towards additional rate hikes.
“I would look very carefully at repealing the rate increase that happened in December,” he said.