Stephen Miran is no longer just a background figure in Washington. Harvard-trained, data-savvy, and unapologetically protectionist, he’s fast becoming the intellectual force behind Donald Trump’s scorched-earth trade policies. Recently elevated to Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Miran is calling for nothing less than a global economic overhaul—one that would weaken the US dollar, erect new tariff walls, and force foreign nations to pick up the bill for America’s military and financial dominance.
Much of this vision is laid bare in a 41-page essay published quietly in November, just after Trump’s shock return to the political stage. Titled A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System, it has since become required reading for those trying to understand the White House’s tariff blitz.
Why the dollar is in the crosshairs
At the heart of Miran’s thesis is a single, provocative idea: the dollar is too strong for America’s own good.
"The deep unhappiness with the prevailing economic order is rooted in persistent overvaluation of the dollar and asymmetric trade conditions," Miran wrote.
He argues that a strong dollar makes American goods expensive abroad and foreign imports cheap at home. The result? Domestic industries struggle, factories don’t get built, and trade deficits balloon. By weakening the dollar and imposing strategic tariffs, Miran believes the US could correct long-standing imbalances in the global system.
This is not idle theorising. Miran is proposing concrete steps: a new international agreement, modelled after the 1985 Plaza Accord, which coordinated a dollar devaluation. Only this time, it would be called the Mar-a-Lago Accord—a nod to Trump’s Florida retreat.
"President Trump views tariffs as generating negotiating leverage for making deals," Miran wrote. “It is easier to imagine that after a series of punitive tariffs, trading partners like Europe and China become more receptive to some manner of currency accord in exchange for a reduction of tariffs.”
Tariffs, user fees, and 100-year bonds
Some of Miran’s proposals veer into uncharted territory.
To push down the dollar, he suggests America’s trading partners should sell off their dollar reserves. He also recommends converting shorter-term Treasury bonds into ultra-long 100-year debt, so the US can delay repayments and shield itself from interest rate spikes. As if that weren’t controversial enough, Miran wants to charge a “user fee” on foreign official holders of US debt—a move that could spook investors and trigger legal challenges.
Countries that comply, he says, could get lower tariffs and continued access to the US military umbrella.
Economists push back
Unsurprisingly, not everyone is convinced. Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics called the bond swap idea a “de facto default on US debt”. Experts at Swiss bank Pictet said imposing user fees could be seen as “a breach of contract, or akin to a default”. Even Eric Monnet of the Paris School of Economics, who allowed that such measures might technically pass legal muster, acknowledged they would require global consent.
“The potential Mar-a-Lago Accord is misguided from both a theoretical and practical perspective,” Pictet wrote in a sharply worded note.
Adam Slater of Oxford Economics added that to make a meaningful dent in the US trade deficit, the dollar would need to drop by over 20 percent.
Miran’s economic backstory
So who is Stephen Miran, and how did he end up as the intellectual bedrock of Trump’s trade offensive?
Born in 1983, he graduated from Boston University with degrees in economics, philosophy, and mathematics, before earning a PhD at Harvard under the influential economist Martin Feldstein—who himself advised Ronald Reagan. Before entering government, Miran worked at Hudson Bay Capital and co-founded the investment firm Amberwave Partners. He’s also an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Despite his market pedigree, Miran has thrown his lot in with economic nationalism.
“The American economic story has seen periods of high tariff rates coincide with extraordinary economic success,” he told the Senate Banking Committee during his confirmation hearing. “There’s nothing in the historical record that would say that it’s impossible to have a fabulous economy with high tariffs.”
Deficits, defence, and dollar dominance
Miran argues that America has unfairly shouldered the burden of global stability, both militarily and financially. His belief is that US workers and industries have paid the price while other nations have enjoyed the benefits.
"President Trump has made it clear that he will no longer stand for other nations free-riding on our blood, sweat, and tears, whether in national security or trade," Miran declared.
He rejects the notion that trade balances out over time. “The long run is here, and the models are wrong,” he has said, challenging decades of economic orthodoxy.
Contradictions in the White House
Despite Miran’s advocacy for negotiation, not everyone in the Trump administration seems to agree. He recently told an audience at the Hudson Institute that foreign governments should continue making tariff-reduction proposals, assuring them that the president would “welcome” such talks.
Yet just days earlier, trade adviser Peter Navarro wrote in The Wall Street Journal that “this is not a negotiation.”
The mixed signals are causing confusion at home and abroad. Meanwhile, markets have grown jittery. US bond yields are climbing, a sign that investors are growing wary of the government’s economic direction.
A radical vision with real consequences
For Miran, the global system is broken—and he’s willing to break more things to fix it. Whether that means tariffs, currency manipulation, or rewriting debt obligations, his plan is nothing if not bold.
But critics warn the fallout could be severe. Breaching contracts, destabilising markets, and antagonising allies are high-risk moves. And yet, as Trump barrels ahead with new tariffs and global institutions buckle under pressure, Miran’s blueprint is no longer just theory. It’s the roadmap.
And the rest of the world is now forced to read it.
Much of this vision is laid bare in a 41-page essay published quietly in November, just after Trump’s shock return to the political stage. Titled A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System, it has since become required reading for those trying to understand the White House’s tariff blitz.
Why the dollar is in the crosshairs
At the heart of Miran’s thesis is a single, provocative idea: the dollar is too strong for America’s own good.
"The deep unhappiness with the prevailing economic order is rooted in persistent overvaluation of the dollar and asymmetric trade conditions," Miran wrote.
He argues that a strong dollar makes American goods expensive abroad and foreign imports cheap at home. The result? Domestic industries struggle, factories don’t get built, and trade deficits balloon. By weakening the dollar and imposing strategic tariffs, Miran believes the US could correct long-standing imbalances in the global system.
This is not idle theorising. Miran is proposing concrete steps: a new international agreement, modelled after the 1985 Plaza Accord, which coordinated a dollar devaluation. Only this time, it would be called the Mar-a-Lago Accord—a nod to Trump’s Florida retreat.
"President Trump views tariffs as generating negotiating leverage for making deals," Miran wrote. “It is easier to imagine that after a series of punitive tariffs, trading partners like Europe and China become more receptive to some manner of currency accord in exchange for a reduction of tariffs.”
Tariffs, user fees, and 100-year bonds
Some of Miran’s proposals veer into uncharted territory.
To push down the dollar, he suggests America’s trading partners should sell off their dollar reserves. He also recommends converting shorter-term Treasury bonds into ultra-long 100-year debt, so the US can delay repayments and shield itself from interest rate spikes. As if that weren’t controversial enough, Miran wants to charge a “user fee” on foreign official holders of US debt—a move that could spook investors and trigger legal challenges.
Countries that comply, he says, could get lower tariffs and continued access to the US military umbrella.
Economists push back
Unsurprisingly, not everyone is convinced. Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics called the bond swap idea a “de facto default on US debt”. Experts at Swiss bank Pictet said imposing user fees could be seen as “a breach of contract, or akin to a default”. Even Eric Monnet of the Paris School of Economics, who allowed that such measures might technically pass legal muster, acknowledged they would require global consent.
“The potential Mar-a-Lago Accord is misguided from both a theoretical and practical perspective,” Pictet wrote in a sharply worded note.
Adam Slater of Oxford Economics added that to make a meaningful dent in the US trade deficit, the dollar would need to drop by over 20 percent.
Miran’s economic backstory
So who is Stephen Miran, and how did he end up as the intellectual bedrock of Trump’s trade offensive?
Born in 1983, he graduated from Boston University with degrees in economics, philosophy, and mathematics, before earning a PhD at Harvard under the influential economist Martin Feldstein—who himself advised Ronald Reagan. Before entering government, Miran worked at Hudson Bay Capital and co-founded the investment firm Amberwave Partners. He’s also an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Despite his market pedigree, Miran has thrown his lot in with economic nationalism.
“The American economic story has seen periods of high tariff rates coincide with extraordinary economic success,” he told the Senate Banking Committee during his confirmation hearing. “There’s nothing in the historical record that would say that it’s impossible to have a fabulous economy with high tariffs.”
Deficits, defence, and dollar dominance
Miran argues that America has unfairly shouldered the burden of global stability, both militarily and financially. His belief is that US workers and industries have paid the price while other nations have enjoyed the benefits.
"President Trump has made it clear that he will no longer stand for other nations free-riding on our blood, sweat, and tears, whether in national security or trade," Miran declared.
He rejects the notion that trade balances out over time. “The long run is here, and the models are wrong,” he has said, challenging decades of economic orthodoxy.
Contradictions in the White House
Despite Miran’s advocacy for negotiation, not everyone in the Trump administration seems to agree. He recently told an audience at the Hudson Institute that foreign governments should continue making tariff-reduction proposals, assuring them that the president would “welcome” such talks.
Yet just days earlier, trade adviser Peter Navarro wrote in The Wall Street Journal that “this is not a negotiation.”
The mixed signals are causing confusion at home and abroad. Meanwhile, markets have grown jittery. US bond yields are climbing, a sign that investors are growing wary of the government’s economic direction.
A radical vision with real consequences
For Miran, the global system is broken—and he’s willing to break more things to fix it. Whether that means tariffs, currency manipulation, or rewriting debt obligations, his plan is nothing if not bold.
But critics warn the fallout could be severe. Breaching contracts, destabilising markets, and antagonising allies are high-risk moves. And yet, as Trump barrels ahead with new tariffs and global institutions buckle under pressure, Miran’s blueprint is no longer just theory. It’s the roadmap.
And the rest of the world is now forced to read it.
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