{"id":57232,"date":"2025-12-19T10:08:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T14:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/trump-to-announce-new-drug-price-deals-as-feds-williams-signals-steady-hand-on-monetary-policy\/57232\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T10:08:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T14:08:13","slug":"trump-to-announce-new-drug-price-deals-as-feds-williams-signals-steady-hand-on-monetary-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/trump-to-announce-new-drug-price-deals-as-feds-williams-signals-steady-hand-on-monetary-policy\/57232\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump to Announce New Drug Price Deals as Fed&#8217;s Williams Signals Steady Hand on Monetary Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>President Trump<\/strong> is slated to announce new deals aimed at <strong>lowering drug and pharmaceutical prices<\/strong> at a White House event today at 1 PM ET.<\/li>\n<li>Federal Reserve&#39;s <strong>John Williams<\/strong> indicated that the Fed is in a <strong>&quot;good position to balance its goal&quot;<\/strong> and that he <em>does eventually see rates coming down<\/em>, but has <em>no sense of urgency<\/em> to change monetary policy.<\/li>\n<li>Williams described current monetary policy as <strong>&quot;mildly restrictive&quot;<\/strong> and helpful with inflation above target, while noting that recent CPI data had <em>some distortions<\/em> and requires more information for a clear read.<\/li>\n<li>The Fed official expressed a <strong>&quot;pretty good&quot;<\/strong> feeling about the economic base case, projecting <strong>1.5%-1.75% growth<\/strong> this year and an acceleration next year, with no signs of sharp deterioration in the jobs market.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>President Trump is expected to unveil new initiatives today designed to <strong>reduce the cost of prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals<\/strong>. The White House confirmed the announcement, with Press Secretary and former Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt indicating the focus of the 1 PM ET event. This move underscores the administration&#39;s ongoing efforts to tackle healthcare costs, a key policy area.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams offered insights into the central bank&#39;s monetary policy and economic outlook. Williams stated that the Fed is <strong>&quot;well positioned to gather more information&quot;<\/strong> and that he <em>doesn&#39;t have a &quot;sense of urgency&quot;<\/em> regarding changes to monetary policy. He reiterated that the Fed&#39;s current bond buying is for <em>managing reserves and is technical<\/em>, not intended to influence long-term rates or constitute quantitative easing.<\/p>\n<p>Williams characterized the current monetary policy as <strong>&quot;mildly restrictive,&quot;<\/strong> deeming it <em>helpful<\/em> given that inflation remains above target. He acknowledged that recent CPI data might have been <em>distorted downwards by about a tenth<\/em> and that more data is needed to get a clear read on inflation. Despite these distortions, some of the new data has been <em>encouraging and shows more disinflation<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>On the economic front, Williams expressed confidence in the <strong>&quot;economic basecase,&quot;<\/strong> projecting <strong>1.5% to 1.75% growth<\/strong> for the current year, with an expectation for growth to <em>pick up next year<\/em>. He highlighted that <strong>higher productivity growth is a positive for the economy<\/strong> and could be disinflationary if sustained. Regarding the labor market, Williams noted that the jobs data does not indicate a <em>sharp deterioration in hiring<\/em> and that any uptick in the unemployment rate might be due to distortions rather than a fundamental shift. He also dismissed concerns about <strong>Artificial Intelligence (AI)<\/strong> posing a <em>systemic financial sector risk<\/em> at this time or causing structural unemployment.<\/p>\n<p>In other economic news, <strong>Canada&#39;s retail sales<\/strong> for October showed a decline, with overall retail sales (MoM) at <strong>-0.2%<\/strong> (vs. -0.7% previous and 0.0% est.) and retail sales ex-auto (MoM) at <strong>-0.6%<\/strong> (vs. 0.2% previous and 0.0% est.).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways President Trump is slated to announce new deals aimed at lowering drug and pharmaceutical prices at a White 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