Donald Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers Pick Will Help Him Rig the Economy for the Ultra-Rich and Big Corporations Arrow

In response to Donald Trump selecting Stephen Miran to lead the Council of Economic Advisers, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement:

"It's clear why Donald Trump chose Stephen Miran for a top economic gig: He's on board with the Project 2025 agenda to give tax handouts to the ultra-rich and big corporations on the backs of working families. Miran is an anti-worker extremist who backs Trump's $100 billion national tax - which would skyrocket costs - and wants to gut crucial programs like Medicare and Social Security. Trump and Miran's dangerous plans will devastate our economy, and hardworking Americans will pay the price."

Donald Trump's pick to lead the Council of Economic Advisers, Stephen Miran, is a MAGA loyalist who wants to give tax handouts to the ultra-rich and big corporations on the backs of working families and strip the Federal Reserve of its independence.

Miran: "This is why low statutory [corporate tax] rates are important."

Miran: "This problem, which exists in the current tax code, could be solved by indexing the basis on which the [capital] gain is calculated-in our example, revaluing the $100 purchase price in 2021 dollars before calculating the profit."

New York Times: "Independent analyses suggest that more than 97 percent of the benefits of indexing capital gains for inflation would go to the top 10 percent of income earners in America. Nearly two-thirds of the benefits would go to the super wealthy - the top 0.1 percent of American income earners."

Politico: "In picking Miran as his chief economist, Trump is turning to a critic of the Federal Reserve, who has argued that the independent agency should be subject to greater political control, a controversial view especially in the wake of earlier comments by Trump that the president should have a say in monetary policy.

"In a March 2024 report, Miran and Manhattan Institute senior fellow Dan Katz wrote that the Fed needed a structural overhaul that would include terms of eight years, rather than 14, for board members, who should be fireable at will by the president. They also wrote that the boards of the 12 Fed banks across the country should be chosen by state governors in each district."

Miran is "thrilled" by Donald Trump's $100 billion national tax, which would cost Americans an extra $1,000 a year and raise costs drastically on energy, cars, and groceries.

Miran: "I'm thrilled that President Trump is already using tariffs to gain negotiating leverage to improve security outcomes for Americans. About time we actually tackled problems instead of letting them slide."

New York Times: "The prospect of tariffs 'is a two-alarm fire for the auto industry,' said Patrick Anderson, chief executive of Anderson Economic Group, a consulting firm in Michigan. 'There is probably not a single assembly plant in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Texas that would not immediately be affected by a 25 percent tariff.' …

"All of those vehicles and many others would become significantly more expensive if Mr. Trump, who won Michigan with promises to preserve auto jobs, followed through on his threat, economists said. Those higher auto prices would have a significant effect on overall inflation. And higher car prices would probably lead to lower sales and layoffs at auto factories."

Ernie Tedeschi, The Budget Lab: "A broad 25% tariff on all goods imports from Canada and Mexico would, before substitution & other 2nd stage effects, put upward pressure on the level of consumer prices of +0.6%. That's the equivalent of an average loss in after-tax income of about $980 per household in 2023."

Ernie Tedeschi, The Budget Lab: "Adding in an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods imports, the price level pressure rises to 0.75%, which is the equivalent of -$1,180 per household in average 2023 after-tax income."

Miran supports gutting crucial programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security - just like Trump.

Miran: "Without putting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid on more durable long-term paths, no plausible cuts to discretionary spending will save the long-term budget outlook."

Miran: "While the caps of the Limit, Save, Grow Act, just passed in the House, are a good idea, it would be better still to front-load more of the spending cuts."

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: "They found, for example, that in 2024 the cuts would cause 926,000 households to lose Housing Choice Vouchers or project-based rental assistance, which helps families with low incomes afford rent; this would cut the programs by roughly one-quarter. They also found that the cut would reduce the maximum Pell Grant that helps students afford college by $1,000; cut the number of children in Head Start by 200,000; and force Social Security field offices to close and staff to be laid off - a catastrophic hit to their ability to serve those applying for or receiving Social Security. …

"Under the McCarthy bill, more than 10 million people in Medicaid expansion states would be at significant risk of having their health coverage taken away because they would be subject to the new requirements and could not be excluded automatically based on existing data readily available to states."

Forbes: "Trump Floats 'Cutting' Spending On Entitlements Like Social Security And Medicare"

Just like Trump, Miran has an anti-worker record, including a history of attacking unions, labor protections, and worker benefits.

Miran: "By heavily subsidizing unionization, Bidenomics is likely to raise production costs, drive more-frequent strikes, and erode America's international competitiveness. …

"The Inflation Reduction Act's manufacturing tax credits include 'prevailing wage' requirements, which force firms that take the money to meet or exceed the average regional wage for that type of work. The requirements prevent firms from competing to reduce labor costs and effectively make unions wage setters. Forcing nonunionized employers to pay the same wages as unionized ones is unionization by other means. …

"But the workers employed in all these new facilities will likely be more unionized, and the administration has added a host of other labor requirements to receive funding. That means costlier labor and, very likely, more strikes."

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