{"id":58710,"date":"2026-02-18T09:38:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/hassett-slams-ny-fed-as-japans-takaichi-pushes-for-swift-budget-and-tax-cuts\/58710\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T09:38:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:38:36","slug":"hassett-slams-ny-fed-as-japans-takaichi-pushes-for-swift-budget-and-tax-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/hassett-slams-ny-fed-as-japans-takaichi-pushes-for-swift-budget-and-tax-cuts\/58710\/","title":{"rendered":"Hassett Slams NY Fed as Japan\u2019s Takaichi Pushes for Swift Budget and Tax Cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>White House Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett<\/strong> issued a scathing critique of the <strong>New York Fed<\/strong>, calling a recent tariff study the <strong>&quot;worst in history&quot;<\/strong> and suggesting the authors face disciplinary action.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi<\/strong> is moving to pass a record <strong>\u00a5122.3 trillion ($783 billion)<\/strong> budget for FY 2026 while calling for urgent cooperation on a <strong>two-year suspension of the 8% food consumption tax<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>GSK (<a href=\"\/stock\/GSK\">GSK<\/a>)<\/strong> released real-world data showing its RSV vaccine, <strong>Arexvy<\/strong>, is <strong>75.6% effective<\/strong> against hospitalizations and significantly reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes in older adults.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Iran and the United States<\/strong> have reached an agreement on a set of <strong>&quot;guiding principles&quot;<\/strong> in Geneva to advance future nuclear negotiations, though both sides caution that a final deal remains distant.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Hassett Pressures Fed, Criticizes Tariff Research<\/h2>\n<p>In a high-profile <strong>CNBC interview<\/strong>, White House National Economic Council Director <strong>Kevin Hassett<\/strong> asserted that there is <strong>&quot;plenty of room&quot;<\/strong> for the <strong>Federal Reserve<\/strong> to cut interest rates. Hassett\u2019s comments come amid a broader administration push to align monetary policy with its pro-growth agenda, citing strong productivity gains from <strong>AI integration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Hassett also launched an unprecedented attack on the <strong>New York Fed<\/strong>, labeling their recent study on the economic impact of tariffs as the <strong>&quot;worst in the Fed&#39;s history.&quot;<\/strong> He argued the research failed to account for shifting supply chains and called for the authors to be <strong>&quot;disciplined,&quot;<\/strong> signaling heightened tensions between the White House and the central bank\u2019s research divisions.<\/p>\n<h2>Takaichi Targets Swift Budget Passage and Tax Relief<\/h2>\n<p>Following her recent election victory, <strong>Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi<\/strong> emphasized her commitment to passing the <strong>FY 2026 budget<\/strong> as quickly as possible. The <strong>\u00a5122.3 trillion<\/strong> spending plan is a cornerstone of her &quot;proactive fiscal policy,&quot; which aims to stimulate the Japanese economy through targeted spending and structural reforms.<\/p>\n<p>A central pillar of Takaichi\u2019s legislative agenda is the <strong>elimination of the 8% consumption tax on food<\/strong> for a two-year period. She has called for immediate cross-party cooperation to finalize the tax cut, which she describes as a <strong>&quot;long-cherished dream&quot;<\/strong> to ease the cost-of-living burden on Japanese households.<\/p>\n<h2>GSK Reports Strong RSV Vaccine Efficacy<\/h2>\n<p>Pharmaceutical giant <strong>GSK (<a href=\"\/stock\/GSK\">GSK<\/a>)<\/strong> announced breakthrough real-world evidence for its RSV vaccine, <strong>Arexvy<\/strong>, at the RSVVW&#39;26 conference in Rome. The study, which included over <strong>2.5 million U.S. patients<\/strong>, found the vaccine was <strong>75.6% effective<\/strong> against RSV-related hospitalizations in adults aged 60 and older.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond respiratory protection, the data revealed that the vaccine was <strong>63.1% effective<\/strong> in preventing <strong>major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE)<\/strong>, such as heart attacks and strokes, during RSV infections. <em>Analysts suggest these findings could significantly broaden the clinical value proposition for Arexvy, potentially driving higher uptake in the senior population.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>U.S. and Iran Establish Framework for Future Talks<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi<\/strong> confirmed that indirect talks in Geneva have resulted in a preliminary framework of <strong>&quot;guiding principles&quot;<\/strong> for future negotiations with the U.S. The discussions, mediated by <strong>Oman<\/strong>, involved high-level U.S. representatives including <strong>Steve Witkoff<\/strong> and <strong>Jared Kushner<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>While the agreement marks a diplomatic step forward, <em>market observers remain cautious as significant gaps persist regarding sanctions relief and Iran&#39;s nuclear enrichment levels.<\/em> Both nations have agreed to exchange draft texts in the coming weeks, but <strong>Vice President JD Vance<\/strong> noted that &quot;red lines&quot; remain that the Iranian side has yet to acknowledge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways White House Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett issued a scathing critique of the New York Fed, calling a recent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[424,4179,5323,12268,17349,17350,17351],"class_list":["post-58710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-gsk","tag-tariffs","tag-federalreserve","tag-japaneconomy","tag-usirantalks","tag-globalmarkets","tag-mace"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}