Miran: We Warned You, and We're Warning You Again

Trump has nominated Miran, a MAGA trade warrior and a dangerous crank, to fill the short unexpired term of Kugler. We warned three months ago that Miran, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, could become the next Fed chair from that position, as three of the last four Fed chairs have. Miran is a dangerous crank. He is a MAGA trade warrior who favors tariffs, radical dollar devaluation, ending of the dollar’s reserve currency status, capital controls and selective default. Trump has not nominated Miran for Fed chair, nor said that he will. But that is far from demonstrating that he won’t. Doing so now would be dangerous and pointless, as Miran is not confirmable by the Senate as chair, because his governor’s term will expire in January before Powell’s term as chair expires in May. Nominating him for chair now would focus opposition in the immediate confirmation process, and in the first term Trump failed with two nominees who were out of the mainstream, though far less radical than Miran.