The latest Survey of Consumer Finances reported that real median household net worth is 37% higher than before the pandemic, while median debt payments as a share of income have fallen, she wrote.
“Despite the increase in inflation-adjusted wages, we know that many Americans are worried that some essential expenses are less affordable,” Brainard’s memo said. “Lowering costs for hardworking American families remains the President’s top economic priority in the year ahead.”
Biden hired Brainard earlier this year—and, in doing so, removed what was widely seen as the most dovish member of the Fed board. The White House has generally avoided commenting on monetary policy, though Biden said last week that the jobs data make the case that the Fed’s hiking cycle should end.
Solid, steady job growth is “a ‘sweet spot’ that’s needed for stable growth and lower inflation, not encouraging the Fed to raise interest rates,” Biden said at a fundraiser last week.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday that she expects inflation to continue to cool towards the Fed’s 2% target. Brainard is widely seen as a potential successor to Yellen.
Inflation is “certainly meaningfully coming down” and there’s no reason “why inflation shouldn’t gradually decline to levels that are consistent with the Fed’s mandate and targets,” Yellen said at a Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.