By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday that Stephen Miran, a Treasury Department adviser during his first administration, would become chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers.
The council advises the president on economic policy and consists of three members, including the chairman. The council helps prepare an annual report that provides an overview of the nation’s economy, assesses federal policies and programs, and makes economic policy recommendations.
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Earlier this year, Miran and economist Nouriel Roubini wrote a study on hedge funds that said the U.S. Treasury Department effectively provided economic stimulus last year by moderating sales of long-term bonds.
The investigation reflected suggestions from Republican lawmakers that the Treasury Department deliberately increased issuance of short-term Treasury bonds to give the economy a “sugar high” ahead of the November election. The Treasury Department denied such a strategy.
Miran, a senior strategist at Hudson Bay Capital, has also argued that fears of trade tariffs that Trump has threatened to impose after he takes office next month are overblown.
Trade and economic experts have said such duties would raise prices and essentially be a new tax on consumers.
Last month, Trump appointed Kevin Hassett, who was a key economic adviser during his first term, as chairman of his National Economic Council, which helps set domestic and international economic policy.
Hudson Bay Capital took a position in Trump’s social media company Trump Media & Technology in the first quarter of this year.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Ross Colvin and Lisa Shumaker)
