Trump Says Fed Pick Warsh Can Get Economy to Hit 15% Growth
Last edited Tue Feb 10, 2026, 05:06 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: Bloomberg via Yahoo
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said his pick to lead the Federal Reserve can stoke the economy to grow at a rate of 15%, an exceedingly rosy target that nonetheless underscores the pressure that Kevin Warsh will face if confirmed to the role.
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If Warsh “does the job that he’s capable” of, then “we can grow at 15%, I think more than that,” Trump told host Larry Kudlow, who was a senior aide in the president’s first administration, in a clip aired Monday. “I think he is going to be great, and he’s a really high quality person.”
It was not fully clear if Trump was referring to year-over-year growth or some other metric. The US economy, which is seen expanding 2.4% this year, has grown at an average annual rate of 2.8% over the past five decades. Gross domestic product has only risen at a 15%-plus pace a few times since the 1950s, including in the third quarter of 2020 as businesses reopened following pandemic-related closures.
. . .
Trump’s comments in the Fox Business interview signal what could prove to be a high-wire act for Warsh. His remarks suggest Trump is not concerned about inflation, which would typically soar under growth rates anywhere near 15% and which has remained stubbornly elevated.
Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-fed-pick-warsh-224228701.html
Published February 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM CST
No paywall and no gimmicks like "gimme your email first" at this Yahoo-hosted article
The latest GDP number is that in Q3, GDP grew at a 4.4% ANNUALIZED RATE in the quarter. (Not that it grew 4.4% during the quarter as some media reports make it sound like)
Edited to add
There's a lot of discussion downthread on GDP. Here's a couple of articles from the initial GDP Q3 report (which was reported as a 4.3% annualized rate) dated 12/23/25 --
The great decoupling: Why America’s economy is booming without jobs (has a GDP bar graph from 2021 Q4 onward), Newsweek, 12/24/25
https://www.newsweek.com/great-decoupling-why-americas-economy-booming-without-jobs-11268302
nominal GDP expanded 8.2 percent ((at an annualized 8.2% rate I think -progree)), while real private demand—a measure that excludes trade and inventory effects—rose 3 percent. Inflation held near 3 percent.
The GDP reported in headlines and most articles are inflation-adjusted using the GDP deflator. The above was unusual in saying what the nominal GDP numbers were.
The US economy expanded at the fastest pace in two years as wealthier Americans kept spending, CNN, 12/23/25
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-economy-much-stronger-expected-140516629.html
An acceleration in consumer spending, up 3.5% from 2.5% in the second quarter, and exports, up 8.8% from -1.8% in the second quarter, were the main contributors to the third-quarter GDP reading. ((CBS says exports grew at an 8.8% rate. Another article says that a rush to buy EV's before the tax incentives expired contributed to the consumer spending increase -progree))
Federal spending also played a sizable role, a reflection of the large uptick in defense spending as well as buyouts for federal workers, part of efforts to ultimately lower government spending. The fourth-quarter GDP report set to be released next month, however, is expected to be negatively impacted by a drop in federal spending resulting from the 43-day government shutdown.
“The K-shaped economy is staring us right in the face,” James Knightley, chief international economist at ING, said in a note on Tuesday following the release of the GDP report. Economic growth, he said, is “concentrated among higher-income households and tech-led investment, while broader consumer confidence remains under pressure.”
The bea.gov report (for the latest 4.4% estimate)
https://www.bea.gov/news/2026/gross-domestic-product-3rd-quarter-2025-updated-estimate-gdp-industry-and-corporate
= new reply since forum marked as read
