#沃什听证会引发争议 Main Views of New Federal Reserve Chair Candidate Wash
On Tuesday the 21st, Eastern Time, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee held a hearing regarding the nomination of the Federal Reserve chair. Faced with questioning from senators of both parties, the nominee, Wash, emphasized maintaining the independence of monetary policy, saying that he would carry out multifaceted reforms of the Federal Reserve and would never take orders from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Wash proposed that if his nomination were confirmed, he would implement comprehensive reforms of the Federal Reserve, including replacing the inflation forecasting model, reducing the frequency of external communications, and gradually shrinking the $6.7 trillion balance sheet of assets and liabilities. He also advocated establishing a new inflation framework and communication approach, saying that having interest-rate policy meetings four times a year was too few.
On interest rates, he did not directly call for rate cuts, but he also did not weaken the case for cutting rates. He said he would focus on core inflation (core inflation refers to the inflation indicators that exclude volatility in food and energy prices), opposed the view that tariffs would raise inflation, and said that while inflation has improved, it still needs to be managed further. He said that AI could improve economic productivity in the long term, creating room for rate cuts without triggering inflation, and he also blamed the Fed’s balance sheet expansion for worsening the K-shaped wealth and income divide in the United States.
Senator Cynthia Lummis asked Wash whether he believed that crypto assets should be brought into the financial system, so that consumers could benefit from more diversified investment choices and better protection of consumer rights.
Wash gave an affirmative answer: “Digital assets have already been deeply integrated into and have become part of the fabric of our financial industry, so my answer is yes.” Wash also said that the Fed has no right to issue digital currency, and that would be a bad policy choice. The Federal Reserve, in fact, should not adopt a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Judging from these views, he would inevitably push for rate cuts, because after stripping out the effects of tariffs and energy, U.S. inflation is not high—core inflation in March was 2.6%. In addition, he mentioned the possibility of reducing the balance sheet, which fits his view of “rate cuts plus balance sheet reduction.” He believes there is a need to hold more interest-rate consultation meetings, and the more meetings are held, the higher the probability of agreeing to rate cuts. At least for now, there is no possibility of raising rates; at most, it would be a wait-and-see stance.
On Tuesday the 21st, Eastern Time, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee held a hearing regarding the nomination of the Federal Reserve chair. Faced with questioning from senators of both parties, the nominee, Wash, emphasized maintaining the independence of monetary policy, saying that he would carry out multifaceted reforms of the Federal Reserve and would never take orders from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Wash proposed that if his nomination were confirmed, he would implement comprehensive reforms of the Federal Reserve, including replacing the inflation forecasting model, reducing the frequency of external communications, and gradually shrinking the $6.7 trillion balance sheet of assets and liabilities. He also advocated establishing a new inflation framework and communication approach, saying that having interest-rate policy meetings four times a year was too few.
On interest rates, he did not directly call for rate cuts, but he also did not weaken the case for cutting rates. He said he would focus on core inflation (core inflation refers to the inflation indicators that exclude volatility in food and energy prices), opposed the view that tariffs would raise inflation, and said that while inflation has improved, it still needs to be managed further. He said that AI could improve economic productivity in the long term, creating room for rate cuts without triggering inflation, and he also blamed the Fed’s balance sheet expansion for worsening the K-shaped wealth and income divide in the United States.
Senator Cynthia Lummis asked Wash whether he believed that crypto assets should be brought into the financial system, so that consumers could benefit from more diversified investment choices and better protection of consumer rights.
Wash gave an affirmative answer: “Digital assets have already been deeply integrated into and have become part of the fabric of our financial industry, so my answer is yes.” Wash also said that the Fed has no right to issue digital currency, and that would be a bad policy choice. The Federal Reserve, in fact, should not adopt a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Judging from these views, he would inevitably push for rate cuts, because after stripping out the effects of tariffs and energy, U.S. inflation is not high—core inflation in March was 2.6%. In addition, he mentioned the possibility of reducing the balance sheet, which fits his view of “rate cuts plus balance sheet reduction.” He believes there is a need to hold more interest-rate consultation meetings, and the more meetings are held, the higher the probability of agreeing to rate cuts. At least for now, there is no possibility of raising rates; at most, it would be a wait-and-see stance.
