China’s Services Sector Posts Slowest Growth in Five Months as Demand Softens 
Cuba Reaffirms Anti-Drug Cooperation as Tensions Rise in the Caribbean 
BOJ Governor Ueda and PM Takaichi Set for Key Meeting Amid Yen Slide and Rate-Hike Debate 
South Korea Inflation Edges Up in November as Food and Service Costs Climb 
Dollar Slides to Five-Week Low as Asian Stocks Struggle and Markets Bet on Fed Rate Cut 
UK Raises Deposit Protection Limit to £120,000 to Strengthen Saver Confidence 
BOK Expected to Hold Rates at 2.50% as Housing and Currency Pressures Persist 
Trump Administration Plans Major Rollback of Biden-Era Fuel Economy Standards 
Trump’s Name Appears on U.S. Institute of Peace Ahead of Rwanda–Congo Deal Signing 
Trump Claims He Will Void Biden Documents Signed with Autopen 
Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Medicaid Funding Restrictions Targeting Planned Parenthood 
Trump and Lula Discuss Trade, Sanctions, and Security in “Productive” Phone Call 
U.S. Futures Steady as Rate-Cut Bets Rise on Soft Labor Data 
Indonesia Aims to Strengthen Rupiah as Central Bank Targets 16,400–16,500 Level 
Senators Warn Trump Against Unauthorized Venezuela Strike, Vow War Powers Push 
Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran has sparked debate with claims that President Donald Trump’s stricter immigration policies will significantly reduce rent inflation and overall consumer prices. However, economists caution that Miran may be overstating the impact.
Miran’s argument draws from research by MIT economist Albert Saiz, who has long studied immigration and housing markets. Saiz’s findings show that a 1% rise in a city’s population from immigration leads to about a 1% increase in rents. By extension, reversing immigration inflows could ease rental costs slightly. But Saiz notes the effect on national inflation is minimal—at most 0.1 percentage points—given the overall U.S. population base. “Population growth impacts housing prices, but not enough to justify major policy shifts,” Saiz explained.
In his debut speech, Miran instead based calculations on the U.S. renter population of 100 million, not the total 340 million, inflating the projected impact nearly threefold. He suggested rent inflation could fall two percentage points by 2027, reducing the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures index, by 0.4 percentage points. Miran argued this would justify cutting interest rates by half a point, contending the Fed’s current stance is “fully 2 percentage points too high.”
Miran cited Saiz’s 2003 study on the Mariel boatlift, which examined Cuban immigration’s impact on Miami’s rental market. Yet later research, including Saiz’s 2007 paper and other international studies, points to more modest or even opposite effects, such as deportations reducing construction supply and pushing housing costs higher.
The Fed quietly updated Miran’s speech to clarify that his estimate stemmed from a unique “quasi-random immigration shock.” Still, his stance underscores growing political pressure on the Fed as Trump pushes for rate cuts and seeks to reshape its leadership. With Miran’s term ending January 31, his window to influence monetary policy is narrow, but his arguments highlight the contentious intersection of immigration, housing, and central banking.
