News

The Federal Reserve’s dual mandate to promote maximum employment and stable prices should be tweaked, proclaimed former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

"I personally believe the right policy is dollar stability — make that the sole focus of the Fed's mandate. That allows us to have more efficient markets with not only a stable dollar, but stable prices," the founder of Roivant Sciences ( ROIV ) turned Republican insider said on Yahoo Finance's Market Domination Overtime on Wednesday.

All eyes are on the Fed as it nears its next monetary policy decision on Sept. 18.

The Fed has widely telegraphed its first rate cut in several years as it looks to stabilize an economy that's beginning to slow.

This slowdown — which has unnerved investors the past month — has been seen everywhere from US labor market numbers to manufacturing to Dollar General's ( DG ) and Dollar Tree's ( DLTR ) earnings.

"Consumers are managing their budgets like light switches," Interactive Brokers senior economist José Torres said on Yahoo Finance's Morning Brief .

As for Ramaswamy, he is no stranger to making bold, against-the-grain suggestions — he's become a firebrand among the conservative community for them.

Ramaswamy rose to national fame for his feisty debate performances during his brief stint running for president. During those debates, Ramaswamy leaned into Trump policies seen as pro-business, such as lower taxes and fewer regulations.

But after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses in January, Ramaswamy ended his presidential bid, backed Trump, and has been out on the road for months as a surrogate for the campaign.

Ramaswamy is seen as eyeing a Cabinet position in another Trump White House or running for a Senate seat that could be vacated by friend and Trump running mate JD Vance.

Before going full tilt into politics, Ramaswamy, 39, founded biotech Roivant Sciences in 2014. He stepped down as CEO in 2021 to pursue his various political interests.

Ramaswamy thinks the Fed relies too much on backward economic indicators, which, in turn, impacts how monetary policy is conducted.

"What ends up happening is they tighten monetary policy right into when we're heading into a downturn in the economic cycle, which gives us a lot of the boom-bust bailout cycles that certainly we saw on steroids in 2008, but has continued, I think, as a pattern over the last several decades," Ramaswamy added.

Three times each week, I field insight-filled conversations with the biggest names in business and markets on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid podcast. Find more episodes on our video hub . Watch on your preferred streaming service Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

In the Opening Bid episode below, former US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross shares his thoughts on the new tariffs former President Trump has floated. Ross served as Commerce Secretary all four years of the Trump administration.

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn