Trump's confidant joins U.S. central bank board

Steven Myron Fed board confirmation

Economic adviser from an obscure Wall Street analyst background

One of the architects of tariff policy

Will Trump's pressure for rate cuts work?

Steven Myron (42·photo), who has been called "Donald Trump's confidant" and "an architect of tariff policy," has become a director of the U.S. central bank (Fed). On the 15th (local time), the U.S. Senate confirmed Myron as a Fed director. In August, Fed director Adriana Kugler abruptly resigned, and President Trump nominated him as her successor; he passed congressional confirmation hearings and other procedures.

Myron is regarded as the first sitting administration official to serve simultaneously at the central bank since the modern Fed was established in the 1930s. While Myron serves as a Fed director for the remainder of his predecessor's term until January 31 next year, his White House post will remain on "unpaid leave."

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said, "A Harvard-educated economist who was almost unknown on Wall Street has rapidly risen to the top ranks of U.S. monetary policy," adding that "he has been placed in the middle of President Trump's aggressive operation to push for rate cuts." Myron, who was nominated as White House National Economic Council chairman in early August, was regarded as Trump's "economic adviser." Last November he released the so-called "Myron report," which proposed punitive tariffs and exchange-rate adjustments to induce a weaker dollar as measures to address U.S. trade and fiscal deficits, supporting the Trump administration's tariff policy.

Myron earned a bachelor's degree from Boston University in 2005 and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 2010. After graduating he joined Wall Street as a bond and foreign-exchange analyst and later worked at a New York hedge fund called Sobanum. WSJ's analysis suggests that during this period Myron solidified a political view that China's depreciation of the yuan destroyed other countries' manufacturing.

In 2020, during Trump's first term, Myron joined the U.S. Treasury, but after Trump's failed re-election he founded the investment management firm AmberWave Partners. The firm later converted into a hedge fund but struggled to raise capital and closed at the end of 2023. This failure is seen as a turning point that helped Myron rise as a star in the MAGA (Make America Great Again) camp. He began writing op-eds on economic policy in various U.S. media outlets, developing his image as a theorist.

Myron will be able to attend the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on the 16th–17th and cast a vote on interest rate decisions. Markets expect the policy rate to be cut by 0.25% percentage point at this FOMC. WSJ reported, "Some analysts expect he will register a minority opinion supporting a larger rate cut."

Reporter Kim Dong-hyun 3code@hankyung.com