Fed governor’s push for faster easing sharpened debate over jobs, credit and housing
Federal Reserve governor Stephen Miran threw his weight behind a full percentage point of rate cuts this year, sharpening an already tense debate over how quickly the central bank should ease financial conditions for borrowers.
In a Fox Business interview, he framed the case not around inflation – which he argued has largely been tamed – but around a job market he said still needed support.
Miran said four quarter‑point cuts “are appropriate” for 2026 and that he would “rather get them sooner than later,” pointing to lingering risks for workers even after a surprisingly strong January payrolls report.
“I think it’s way too early to sort of sound an all clear that the labor market doesn’t need more support from the Federal Reserve,” he said.
“I definitely think the labor market can be supported by the Federal Reserve further.”
He also downplayed the threat of resurgent price pressures. “I really do not think that we have an inflation problem,” Miran said, adding that recent readings running about a percentage point above the Fed’s target were likely to slow.
Sam Williamson, Senior Economist at First American, and Stephen Kates, Financial Analyst at Bankrate, both highlight how easing inflation could modestly lower mortgage rates and brighten affordability heading into the spring homebuying season.https://t.co/9C5utQSUqZ
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) February 13, 2026
His assessment went further than many private‑sector economists who have urged the central bank to move cautiously given still‑elevated core inflation.
The timing of any easing could prove as important as the total size. Thirty‑year mortgage rates in the US have typically moved in advance of Fed decisions, responding to expectations around the path of policy rather than single meetings.
Rate cycles show how even modest shifts in expectations have rippled through refinance volumes, purchase timelines and warehouse funding costs for originators.
Market pricing, however, still lagged his preferred path. As of Feb. 26, the CME FedWatch Tool showed traders broadly favoring just two quarter‑point cuts this year, most likely in July and October, rather than Miran’s four.
Miran’s comments also touched on two forces reshaping credit markets: private lending and artificial intelligence. On the rapid growth of private credit, he said he has not seen anything that would make him “worried from a macroeconomic perspective,” arguing that much of the expansion could be traced back to what he called overregulation in the banking sector.
On technology, Miran said artificial intelligence has been “profoundly disinflationary” and that he sees no reason it would not ultimately create new roles.
“I do fully expect AI will destroy some jobs, but I also expect it will create entirely new categories of jobs we can’t think of yet,” he said.
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