Fireworks were expected from this week’s Federal Reserve Board meeting. Instead, there was a dampish squib.

After the last-minute rush to install a Trump senior economic adviser, Stephen Miran, on the board and a failed attempt to oust another governor, Lisa Cook, there were expectations that the meeting would be a fractious affair as Miran lined up with two other Donald Trump-appointed governors to try to deliver a larger-than-expected interest rate cut.

Stephen Miran was the lone dissenting voice on the Federal Open Market Committee.Credit: AP

Instead, Miran found himself a lone dissenter. The other Trump appointees, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, joined the rest of the committee in voting for the 25-basis point cut that the markets expected.

Waller and Bowman created a bit of history in July when they disagreed with the majority decision to hold rates steady. It was the first time since 1993 that two governors had dissented.

Against expectations, and resisting the US president’s intimidatory tactics, Fed chair Jerome Powell had a near-unanimous consensus at the meeting. Miran was the only member to vote against the 25 basis points, wanting a 50-basis point cut instead. Trump, of course, has repeatedly called for a 3 percentage point cut.

Miran was installed as a governor on Tuesday after the Senate rushed to confirm his nomination in time for the meeting. Cook retained her position, at least for the moment, when an appeals court, also on Tuesday, rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to sack her ahead of the meeting.

Waller, who is on Trump’s short list to replace Powell as the Fed’s chair when Powell’s term ends in May next year, and Bowman were expected to join Miran in arguing for a cut of at least 50 basis points. By siding with Powell and the majority, Waller may have disqualified himself from that contest. Trump won’t be happy.

Powell dodged most questions about what had........

© The Sydney Morning Herald