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Stephen Miran says he’s not worried about inflation, and he’s not worried about Kevin Warsh either. On Friday, the outgoing Fed governor told Bloomberg that President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the central bank is well equipped for the role.

“He’s been there before, he knows how the place operates,” Miran said. “He knows the key players and he has their respect.”

Miran said he expects Warsh to be able to win over other members of the Fed’s monetary policy committee and push through his ideas.

“He’ll be able to marshal the arguments and the evidence,” Miran said, pointing to Warsh’s past experience inside the Fed during the global financial crisis.

As for the economy, Miran made clear he still believes interest rates need to be cut much further, though he now supports a slower pace of 25 basis points per meeting after recent progress.

He also pushed back against concerns that inflation is still too hot. Speaking earlier on CNBC, Miran said the gap between current inflation and the 2% target is mostly noise caused by quirks in how housing costs and portfolio management fees are calculated.

“It’s not real inflation, it’s fake inflation,” he said. Adjusting for those inputs, core inflation excluding housing is already down to 2.2%, which Miran says is close enough to target.

Kevin Hassett is staying put. Speaking Friday after President Donald Trump tapped Kevin Warsh to be the next Federal Reserve chair, Hassett said he’s happy with the decision and has no interest in leaving his current post as head of the National Economic Council.

“I’ve got my dream job,” Hassett told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street. “President Trump made a great choice, and I’m really thrilled and humbled by all the kind things he said about me.”

Trump posted a message on Truth Social praising Hassett’s work at the White House, writing, “Kevin is indescribably good… if you can’t do better, don’t try to fix it!” The president added that he didn’t want to lose Hassett and that the NEC director is doing “an outstanding job.”

Hassett said the White House is now fully behind Warsh’s nomination and will push for a swift confirmation. “Every single resource we have is behind him,” Hassett said. “We really want to get Kevin confirmed as soon as possible so the Fed can start moving in the right direction.”

If the Senate confirms him, Warsh will officially replace Governor Stephen Miran, whose term ends Saturday, but won’t take over as Fed chair until May, when Jerome Powell’s term expires.

China logged a record 12.7 trillion yuan deficit last year, equal to about $1.8 trillion, as social welfare spending grew 9.5%, the fastest pace since 2017.

This is a huge change in China’s fiscal policy, with broad government expenditure up nearly 4% year-on-year even as total spending came in 5% below initial budget targets.

According to data from China’s Ministry of Finance released Friday, Beijing spent about 40 trillion yuan in 2025 under its two main budgets. The deficit spike wasn’t due to stimulus alone.

A large share of the outlays went to refinance local government off-balance-sheet debt, limiting what was left for new investment.

Roughly 3.4 trillion yuan from new special local government bonds was used to pay off so-called hidden debt, far more than planned.

That effectively drained liquidity away from infrastructure or industrial programs, the kind that typically boost GDP growth, and channeled it into plugging financial holes.

The pattern contrasts with China’s last major overspend in 2018, during the first round of trade war measures under U.S. President Donald Trump.

This time, the spending shift is being driven by domestic priorities, including cash handouts to families as part of efforts to raise birth rates.

On the revenue side, individual income tax receipts rose 11.5%, the fastest jump since 2021, as Chinese authorities tightened enforcement, especially around undisclosed overseas assets and previously untaxed income sources.

Several tax breaks were also scrapped last year, helping offset weaker corporate or trade-related revenue streams.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said Friday it’s not time to cut rates again, pushing back against calls for more easing.

“We should be waiting, and be more patient,” Raphael told CNBC, adding that inflation is still too high and the Fed needs to stay somewhat restrictive.

The comments came just days after the Fed voted to hold its policy rate at 3.5%–3.75%, pausing after three cuts in late 2025. Fed Chair Jerome Powell had said the decision was broadly supported, citing a recent stabilization in the unemployment rate as a reason for caution.

Bostic agreed with that. “I do feel like that downside risk, that a catastrophe is going to happen in employment, is much further away from us than it was even a month ago,” he said. “That gives me some confidence that we can be patient.”

His message landed just hours after President Donald Trump confirmed he’ll nominate Kevin Warsh to replace Powell as Fed chair when his term ends in May.

Raphael said he doesn’t know Warsh well but has heard “he’s quite thoughtful” and someone “you can really engage with.”

Friday’s meeting was also Raphael’s final one as a voting policymaker. He’s retiring at the end of February after serving at the Atlanta Fed since 2017.