Fed’s Stephen Miran Calls for Series of 50‑bps Rate Cuts After FOMC Dissent

Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran has continued his advocacy for more aggressive Fed rate cuts. This comes as the crypto market continues its decline following the first rate cut of the year at last week’s FOMC meeting.

Stephen Miran Advocates For Series Of 50 Bps Fed Rate Cuts

The Fed Governor said during a FOX Business interview that the committee needs to make larger cuts to reach the neutral rate. He further opined that they can get there through a series of 50 basis points (bps) cuts, readjusting monetary policy, and then they can cool off after that.

This came as Miran again noted that monetary policy is too restrictive, which he claimed makes the economy more vulnerable to downside shocks. Notably, the newly appointed Fed Governor was the only one who dissented in favor of a 50-basis-point Fed rate cut at last week’s FOMC meeting.

Miran mentioned how his fellow Fed officials are too concerned about the Trump tariffs and how they could lead to rising inflation. However, he doesn’t see it that way based on the data and is instead more concerned about the downside risks in the labor market.

His comments follow those of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who made similar remarks yesterday, stating that the current monetary policy is too restrictive. Bessent also added that he is surprised that Fed Chair Jerome Powell hasn’t signaled plans to make up to a 150 bps Fed rate cut by year-end.

Powell had given a speech earlier this week where he cooled off rate cut expectations, noting that the incoming data will determine their next steps. However, he admitted that the slowdown in the labor market was what prompted the first rate cut of the year last week.

Meanwhile, the crypto market has so far reacted negatively to the first Fed rate cut. The Bitcoin price has dropped from a high of $117,000 last week and is just trading above the psychological level. Other crypto prices, including ETH, are on the decline.

Goolsbee Gives Take On Further Cuts

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee also gave his take on further Fed rate cuts during a moderated discussion today. He stated that interest rates can drop further if stagflation risks fade.

Goolsbee remarked that the risk of inflation persistently is what is most worrying in the short term. However, he admitted that the job market seems to be cooling even as inflation rises.

Fed Presidents Raphael Bostic and Alberto Musalem, who spoke earlier this week, also voiced concerns about rising inflation. Bostic believes that there is no need for further rate cuts this year, as the upside risk to inflation is on the rise.

More recently, Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid stated that they may not need to make another Fed rate cut as they continue to try to bring inflation down.

With these Fed officials cooling expectations of further rate cuts, the odds of a 25 bps cut at the October meeting have dropped to around 83.4% from as high as 90% earlier in the week. There is now a 16.6% chance that rate cuts will remain unchanged at the next meeting.