Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dismissed the idea that investors are worried about rising prices and argued that the Trump administration’s policies will boost wages, but won’t stimulate greater inflation, according to a new report.
“There are a lot of ways to have the economy grow,” Mnuchin told Bloomberg News. “You can have wage inflation and not necessarily have inflation concerns in general.”
Mnuchin’s comments come as inflation has increased recently, along with wages. Prices for consumers in January were reportedly 2.1 percent higher than last year, but hourly earnings have also increased 2.9 percent in January in comparison to last year.
Mnuchin also praised President Trump’s tax reform plan.
“Is it very good for the economy? Absolutely,” Mnuchin said. “One of the reasons why the president won the election is because most middle-class Americans had very little wage growth.”
The law’s most significant features are a drastic and permanent reduction in the corporate tax rate and an overhaul of the individual code through 2025 that will reduce rates, double the per child tax credit, nearly double the standard deduction, and limit a number of tax deductions, such as on mortgage interest and state and local taxes.
Trump signed the bill into law in December 2017.
