Economist Moore: I Was Right to Criticize Fed's Rate Hikes

Club for Growth founder and ex-Trump campaign adviser Stephen Moore says his harsh criticism of the Fed for raising interest rates was spot-on.

In an in interview Monday with The Wall Street Journal, Moore, President Donald Trump's pick for a Federal Reserve Board seat, said the central banks' recent policy pivot proves he was right.

Moore had called Fed Chairman Jerome Powell "totally incompetent" — and called for his resignation — after the December hike, the Journal reported.

But he walked the remarks back Monday.

"They made a mistake," he told the Journal. "Nobody's perfect. They've admitted they made a mistake. Was I harsh? Yes, and I wish I hadn't been."

Most officials have now projected there will be no rate increases this year if the economy performs as expected, the Journal reported. And the policy pivot, Moore told the Journal, is "an example of where I was right, and where my critics were wrong."

But he disputed criticism he would be a puppet for the president at the Fed.

"I'm a big fan of the president, and I'm a big fan of what he's done for the economy," he said, noting, however, his opposition to Trump's steel tariffs.

"I'm not a sycophant for Trump," he told the Journal.

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