IMF ditched top candidate for chief economist job over Trump tariff remarks

{"text":[[{"start":12.36,"text":"The IMF dropped the lead candidate to become its new chief economist at the eleventh hour after he was found to have made critical remarks about the Trump administration’s economic policies, according to people briefed on the process."}],[{"start":25.26,"text":"The Washington-based fund was preparing an announcement that Ricardo Reis, a professor at the London School of Economics, would take over as head of research and economic counsellor earlier this summer when it suddenly backtracked. The last-minute change was prompted by earlier remarks by Reis that were critical of Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, three people familiar with the matter told the FT."}],[{"start":47.32,"text":"The IMF in July appointed the former Bank of England policymaker Silvana Tenreyro to the position, another highly regarded LSE economist. Tenreyro started last month."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":58.6,"text":"Reis is frequently quoted on economic issues in the Portuguese and international media. Following the US president’s “liberation day” tariffs announcement in April last year, Reis warned that the levies would push up prices for US consumers and trigger a fresh wave of inflation."}],[{"start":75.16,"text":"While IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva is responsible for senior appointments at the IMF, the US can exert a strong informal influence due to its position as its largest shareholder. Georgieva ditched her focus on gender and climate change after coming under fire from US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who has called on the fund to focus on its core responsibilities of macroeconomic and financial stability."}],[{"start":100.04,"text":"Reis’s removal from the race raised alarm among some of the people briefed on the matter over whether the role would go to an economist with ties to the Trump administration, although those concerns eased after the appointment in July of Tenreyro. Both Reis and Tenreyro frequently publish their work in the most selective economics journals."}],[{"start":119.36,"text":"The episode reflects wider fears over the treatment in the US of economists and academics, many of whom have criticised the Trump administration’s policies on trade."}],[{"start":128.68,"text":"Last year, Trump urged Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon to fire the bank’s chief economist Jan Hatzius after the latter said tariffs would harm the US economy."}],[{"start":138.4,"text":"Earlier this year, Trump adviser Kevin Hassett said New York Federal Reserve economists should be “disciplined” for a report arguing that American businesses and consumers were shouldering most of the costs from US tariffs. Hassett later partially walked back the remarks."}],[{"start":154.4,"text":"Reis warned on social media site X in April last year that the burden of the “liberation day” tariffs would fall on US consumers, an opinion widely shared by economists."}],[{"start":165.32,"text":"One month later, he predicted that “prices in the US are going to go up because of . . . tariffs” in a podcast for a Portuguese think-tank, the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation. He added that Trump’s tariffs “would raise, immediately, imported prices” and would also make production in the US “harder, more expensive and more inefficient”."}],[{"start":187,"text":"Tenreyro has also said that tariffs would negatively impact growth but has been a less vocal critic than Reis."}],[{"start":193.8,"text":"An IMF spokesperson declined to comment on the hiring process for its chief economist role, telling the FT that the organisation followed a practice of “strict non-disclosure about the identities or specific details of competing candidates” and that the selection process for the role had been “rigorous and competitive”."}],[{"start":212,"text":"The IMF was “delighted” with Tenreyro’s appointment, the spokesperson added. “She brings to the Fund a rare combination of academic excellence and extensive policymaking experience in monetary policy and macroeconomics.”"}],[{"start":225.68,"text":"Reis declined to comment."}],[{"start":227.5,"text":"Tariffs are at the foundation of the Trump administration’s economic strategy to boost US manufacturing."}],[{"start":233.36,"text":"While many of the most aggressive tariffs were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court earlier this year, the administration continues to use trade as a means to punish both its enemies and allies, including Canada."}],[{"start":244.72,"text":"US inflation is now 3.7 per cent, almost double the US Federal Reserve’s goal, due in part to the impact of trade policies and the Iran war on consumer prices."}],[{"start":255.2,"text":"The IMF’s chief economic counsellor leads a team of more than 100 economists and helps to set its policy agenda. The Fund’s central role in promoting free trade, alongside financial integration, is seen by many as being at odds with the Trump administration’s focus on tariffs and national economic security."}],[{"start":273.32,"text":"In an interview with the FT in June, Tenreyro’s predecessor Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said the world economy was at risk from the “tit-for-tat” economic warfare breaking out between nations."}],[{"start":290.56,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789024409_8780.mp3"}