Overview
- National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNBC the New York Fed paper was an “embarrassment” and said its authors should “presumably be disciplined.”
- The New York Fed analysis, published Feb. 12, found roughly 90% of 2025 tariff costs were passed to U.S. companies and consumers, easing from about 94% earlier in the year to 86% in November.
- A New York Fed official declined to comment on Hassett’s call for punishment, as the paper’s approach and findings drew wide coverage.
- Hassett argued tariffs lowered prices and lifted real wages, a claim at odds with the New York Fed research and consistent CBO work that estimates most costs were borne domestically.
- The clash unfolds as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on the administration’s emergency tariff authority, a decision that could affect the policy’s future.