It appears that U.S. President Donald Trump may be moving forward with appointing former Republican presidential candidate and Godfather’s Pizza founder Hermain Cain as a Federal Reserve governor.
Earlier this year, CNBC reported that Trump was considering the former presidential candidate for a Fed governorship.The 73-year-old Cain was a former chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, serving for seven years between 1989 and 1996 before leaving to focus on political activities.
“He won’t formally announce until the vet is completed … But he likes Cain and wants to put him on there,” said a senior official quoted by Axios who was in discussions with the president.
Cain purportedly met President Trump at the White House on Wednesday as he was escorted by National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow. The central bank board has two vacancies available and President is said to be meeting with various candidates to fill the open positions.
Cain’s popularity surged in 2011 when he ran for president. HIs campaign was popularized by the “9-9-9” plan, which referred to the tax rates his plan would apply to personal income, federal sales and corporations.
Trump’s frustration with the central bank has been well-documented. As has been the case whenever market volatility racks the major indexes, President Trump has been quick to denigrate the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates.
“They’re raising interest rates too fast because they think the economy is so good. But I think that they will get it pretty soon,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
The Fed has been taking on a more dovish tone, electing to keep interest rates steady in its last policy decision–signs that the Fed is looking more closely at possible headwinds for the economy, such as a global slowdown. As such, a recurring theme of “patience” has been mentioned by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as of late.
In move that was widely anticipated by most market experts, the Federal Reserve last month elected to keep rates unchanged, holding its policy rate in a range between 2.25 percent and 2.5 percent. In addition, the central bank alluded to no more rate hikes for the rest of 2019 after initially forecasting two.
“The U.S. economy is in a good place,” said Powell. “We will continue to use our monetary policy tools to help keep it there. The jobs market is strong, showing healthier wage gains and prompting many people to join or remain in the workforce. The unemployment rate is near historic lows and inflation remains near our 2 percent goal.”
The capital markets initially expected rates to remain steady after the central bank spoke in more dovish tones following the fourth and final rate hike for 2018 last December.
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