President-elect Donald Trump on Dec. 22 nominated Stephen Miran to chair the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA).
Miran, who has a PhD in economics from Harvard University, served as a senior adviser for the Treasury Department during the president-elect’s first term.
“Steve will work with the rest of my Economic Team to deliver a Great Economic Boom that lifts up all Americans,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social announcing the nomination.
Miran currently works as a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a senior strategist at the Hudson Bay Capital global investment firm. He’s also a co-founder of Amberwave Partners, an investment firm with a focus on investments aligned with U.S. jobs, security, and growth. The strategy is dubbed “JSG,” a clear counter to left-wing “environmental, social, governance,” or ESG-based strategies.
In his new capacity as CEA chief, Miran would play a crucial role in advising Trump on how to carry out his ambitious economic agenda, from issues like taxation and regulation to tariffs and the deficit.
The position requires Senate confirmation. Miran will likely face few difficulties in getting confirmed given his experience in the field.
During Trump’s first term, three people—Kevin Hassett, Tomas Philipson, and Tyler Goodspeed—headed the CEA.
Jared Bernstein currently heads the agency. He succeeded Cecilia Rouse in July 2023.
Some of the most prominent names in economics and economic policymaking have chaired the agency in the past, including former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee.
“Economic thinking at the CEA has been marked by important continuities,” said Greenspan in an October 2005 speech. “Nevertheless, the evolution of thinking at the CEA over the years has reflected the economic challenges of each era as well as continuing developments in economic research.”
In 1946, Congress established the CEA through the Employment Act. Since then, the CEA has advised the president on domestic and international economic policy with objective information, relying on data and research.
The CEA prepares the annual Economic Report of the President, a publicly available report that offers a snapshot of the country’s economic progress. Additionally, the CEA’s 18-person staff presents economic policies to support U.S. workers and reviews federal directives to determine whether they advance sound economic policy.
The CEA produces white papers, typically authored by its chair, that analyze recent statistics or discuss economic subjects in the news.
This past spring, when there was widespread discussion about Trump and his potential impact on the Fed, the CEA penned a report titled “The Importance of Central Bank Independence.”
