US Stocks: Trump adviser Hassett suggests New York Fed researchers be punished for tariffs argument

Kevin Hassett, a top economic adviser to President Donald Trump, on Wednesday said those behind a New York Federal Reserve research paper that argued the costs of tariffs ‌are borne ⁠mostly ⁠by Americans should be punished for what he described as shoddy scholarship.

"The paper is an embarrassment," ​Hassett said in a CNBC interview. "It's, I think, the worst paper I've ever seen ​in the history of the ⁠Federal Reserve ‌System" and "the people associated with ​this ​paper should presumably be disciplined" ⁠for writing it. The paper argued that Trump's large ​import tax increases are borne by ​those in the U.S., rather than by foreigners, as the administration has long argued. The findings in the New York Fed paper have been echoed ‌elsewhere.

Hassett, the director of the White House's National Economic Council, said the New York Fed researchers ⁠have "put out a conclusion which has created a lot of news that's highly partisan based on analysis that wouldn't be accepted in a first semester econ class."


The New York Fed did not immediately respond to a request for comment.