Trump Picks Portend Tax, Fed Scrutiny

As has been widely reported, President-elect Donald Trump’s Treasury pick Steven Mnuchin told CNBC that there will be the “largest tax change since Reagan,” with widespread federal tax cuts in the offing.

The tax cut will extend to the middle class, as the former Goldman partner said that tax cuts for the upper class will be offset by less deductions to pay for it. There will also be a ceiling in place for mortgage deductions. The tax cuts will lower the 35 percent top rate for businesses to 15 percent. Tax cuts could also bring economic growth to a sustainable level of 3 to 4 percent, he said.

Separately, Mnuchin, along with Trump pick for commerce head Wilbur Ross, gave Fed head Janet Yellen what CNBC termed “tepid reviews,” with the latter stating that Yellen had done a “reasonably good job” yet offering no comment as whether the current chairwoman of the Fed should finish out her current term, deferring that decision to Trump.