National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Wednesday he sees no argument for hiking interest rates in light of the latest data on the U.S. economy, including an “amazing” inflation report.
“There’s not really an excuse for raising rates right now,” Hassett said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
He said that he expects the Federal Reserve will “be thinking the other way,” meaning lowering interest rates, if the data trends continue.
Hassett added that the White House is expecting Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s pick who started the job in late May, will “drive the committee to the right answer.”
Hassett’s inclination toward lower rates matches Trump’s insistent demand that the U.S. central bank must quickly slash rates in order to boost the economy and make borrowing cheaper.
The economist’s CNBC appearance came one day after the latest consumer price index reading, which measures the costs of a wide range of U.S. goods and services, came in much lower than expected.
The CPI fell a seasonally adjusted 0.4% during June, bringing the annual inflation rate down to 3.5% and beating expectations from Dow Jones economists, according to the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was the biggest decline in consumer prices in more than six years.
It was “one of the best inflation reports that I’ve seen in my entire career,” Hassett said in Wednesday’s interview.
He credited Trump’s policies for the shift, while noting that declines were not just related to a drop in the price of oil due to developments in the U.S. war against Iran.
“The story, when I dug into it with my staff, is that because President Trump has made law and order a big focus of the big cities, it’s much cheaper to buy insurance now because people aren’t going to steal your car,” Hassett said.
Warsh, however, was less willing to spike the football following Tuesday’s report.
“There might be some that look at this morning’s data and say, ‘Oh, mission accomplished, everything is swell,'” the Fed chair said in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. “That is not my view.”
