https://www.scmp.com/rss/522142/feed The latest news and top stories on Stephen Miran. A distinguished Harvard economics PhD, he currently serves as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, a pivotal role advising on economic policy. Miran was recently appointed to a vacant seat on the Federal Reserve board, further extending his influence in monetary policy. Known for advocating tariffs and a weaker US dollar, his protectionist economic philosophy aims to revive US industrial capacity. His background includes advising the... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday at its first policy gathering this year, citing robust economic growth, as the central bank resists President US Donald Trump’s mounting pressure for cuts. The Fed’s 10-2 vote maintains rates at a range between 3.50 per cent and 3.75 per cent, an outcome that was widely expected as officials await more data on the world’s biggest economy. In a statement on its decision, policymakers flagged that economic activity has been “expanding... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341596/us-federal-reserve-holds-interest-rates-steady-defying-trump-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341596/us-federal-reserve-holds-interest-rates-steady-defying-trump-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jan 2026 19:23:17 +0000 Frank Tang Frank Tang The US central bank announced on Wednesday it would slash the benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, though this year’s third cut has long been criticised by President Donald Trump as too late and too little. The cut decision made by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the monetary-policy organ affiliated to the Federal Reserve, was broadly in line with market expectations, but fell short of Trump’s demand of a larger cut. The benchmark interest rate after the... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/economy-trade-business/article/3335968/us-fed-delivers-quarter-point-rate-cut-trump-renews-pressure-central-bank?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/economy-trade-business/article/3335968/us-fed-delivers-quarter-point-rate-cut-trump-renews-pressure-central-bank?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Dec 2025 19:09:51 +0000 Ji Siqi,Sylvia Ma Ji Siqi,Sylvia Ma More than six decades after British historian AJP Taylor termed war the “mother of invention”, economies around the world appear to be ramping up their military spending, at least in part, to reinvigorate industrial production. Taylor was referring to the genesis of the tank, the aeroplane and poison gas in World War I, and that of radar, the jet engine and the atomic bomb in World War II. More modern examples, such as satellite-based navigation systems and the internet, were the products of the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3335612/us-eu-and-japan-boost-defence-spending-stimulus-their-true-intention?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3335612/us-eu-and-japan-boost-defence-spending-stimulus-their-true-intention?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Dec 2025 22:00:16 +0000 Sylvia Ma Sylvia Ma China’s central bank has set the yuan’s daily reference rate against the US dollar at the strongest level in more than a year, with analysts expecting room for appreciation should a December rate cut by the US Federal Reserve weaken the dollar. The People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s midpoint rate, also known as the daily fixing rate, at 7.0796 to the US dollar on Wednesday – the strongest showing since October 2024. The decision followed a 0.34 per cent rally in the offshore yuan on Tuesday,... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3334178/china-sets-strongest-yuan-fix-over-year-fed-cut-bets-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3334178/china-sets-strongest-yuan-fix-over-year-fed-cut-bets-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Nov 2025 05:10:10 +0000 Sylvia Ma,Frank Chen Sylvia Ma,Frank Chen China slightly increased its US Treasury holdings in August and September – though the uptick did little to offset an overall downward trend – as persistent worries over US debt sustainability and the Federal Reserve’s independence deepened doubts about the safety of assets backed by the US dollar. The country’s stockpile rose to US$701 billion in August, up from July’s multi-year low of US$696.9 billion, but it again trimmed the total to US$700.5 billion in September, according to data from the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3333405/chinas-us-treasury-holdings-edge-long-term-sell-continues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3333405/chinas-us-treasury-holdings-edge-long-term-sell-continues?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Nov 2025 13:00:10 +0000 Frank Tang Frank Tang The prolonged US federal government shutdown has been affecting the release of key data that policymakers need to assess the trade war’s effects and gauge price and labour market trends, further complicating ongoing rate decision disputes between US President Donald Trump and the Federal Reserve. Speaking at the Brookings Institution on Monday, US Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook joined other colleagues to warn how the lack of government data has challenged their decision-making at the US... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3331545/us-government-shutdown-stops-flow-key-economic-data-latest-impact-trumps-tariffs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3331545/us-government-shutdown-stops-flow-key-economic-data-latest-impact-trumps-tariffs?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Nov 2025 19:26:53 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced its second consecutive quarter-point rate cut to bolster the flagging labour market, in a move that highlighted the growing division in its ranks. Policymakers voted 10-2 in favour of lowering the bank’s key lending rate to between 3.75 per cent and 4.00 per cent, the Fed said in a statement. Opposed to the action were Fed governor Stephen Miran, who backed a bigger half-point cut, and Kansas City Fed president Jeff Schmid, who “preferred no change... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3330827/us-fed-lowers-key-rate-powell-says-december-cut-not-guaranteed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3330827/us-fed-lowers-key-rate-powell-says-december-cut-not-guaranteed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Oct 2025 19:20:17 +0000 Sylvia Ma Sylvia Ma China’s central bank has set the yuan’s daily reference rate against the US dollar at the strongest level in a year, as expectations grow that the US Federal Reserve will cut rates again this month. On Thursday, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the yuan’s midpoint rate – also known as the daily fixing rate – at 7.0968 per US dollar, its strongest since October last year. Two days earlier, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that America’s labour market and inflation outlooks were... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3329206/chinas-central-bank-sets-daily-yuan-rate-against-us-dollar-strongest-level-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3329206/chinas-central-bank-sets-daily-yuan-rate-against-us-dollar-strongest-level-year?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Oct 2025 05:06:29 +0000 Zhang Shidong Zhang Shidong Chinese investors sitting on 150 billion yuan (US$21 billion) worth of gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are likely to enjoy an extended run of a world-beating rally in the metal’s price amid robust demand, according to Swiss banks Julius Baer and Lombard Odier. Even after gaining almost 50 per cent this year, gold prices were set to rise to US$4,000 an ounce in the next 12 months, Julius Baer said, while Lombard Odier said the precious metal would rise to US$3,900. JPMorgan Private Bank was... https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3327629/chinas-us21-billion-gold-etfs-shines-amid-metals-continued-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3327629/chinas-us21-billion-gold-etfs-shines-amid-metals-continued-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Oct 2025 23:30:08 +0000 Frank Chen Frank Chen The US Federal Reserve has announced that it will cut interest rates by a quarter of 1 percentage point in a widely anticipated move. The US central bank also expects two more quarter-point cuts this year. The cut puts the target range for its main lending rate at 4 to 4.25 per cent. Still, market stakeholders are watching the Fed’s next moves and their timing. The announcement of the first cut this year, made on Wednesday, comes amid slower job gains and rising inflation risks as well as... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/economy-trade-business/article/3325921/us-federal-reserve-makes-first-rate-cut-2025-employment-risks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/economy-trade-business/article/3325921/us-federal-reserve-makes-first-rate-cut-2025-employment-risks?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Sep 2025 18:19:04 +0000 Sylvia Ma Sylvia Ma US President Donald Trump’s nomination of his top economic adviser to the Federal Reserve Board could strengthen the White House’s influence over the central bank and deepen concerns over its independence, analysts said. Stephen Miran, chairman of the Trump administration’s Council of Economic Advisers and an architect of its tariff policy, will be nominated to temporarily fill a vacant seat on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, the US president announced Thursday on social... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3321241/why-trumps-federal-reserve-pick-raising-alarm-over-central-banks-independence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3321241/why-trumps-federal-reserve-pick-raising-alarm-over-central-banks-independence?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Aug 2025 13:00:16 +0000 Raymond Ma,Neil Denslow Raymond Ma,Neil Denslow US President Donald Trump nominated top economic aide and China hawk Stephen Miran for a vacant Federal Reserve board seat, boosting support for his global trade war within the independent central bank. Miran, the head of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, will serve until January 31 while a permanent replacement is sought, Trump said on social media. The vacancy arose following the resignation of Adriana Kugler, a Joe Biden appointee. The appointment, which requires Senate approval,... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3321222/china-hawk-join-fed-exports-surge-deflation-risk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3321222/china-hawk-join-fed-exports-surge-deflation-risk?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Aug 2025 09:01:20 +0000