The following is an interview transcript with CEO Brian Mionihan, CEO of the US, aired on 3 August, 2025 on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brainon”.
Margaret Brainon: And we are back with the CEO of Bank of America, Brian Mionihan, Good Morning, and thank you for being here with us.
Brian Mionihan: Being good again, Margaret, hope you are doing well.
Margaret Brainon: Okay, I hope you can give us some clarity what is happening to the economy. Economists of your Bank of America say that there is no rate this year and there is no recession. Is this still after the report of Friday’s jobs?
Bryan Mionihan: Yes, it is still the case, and it is a low development, which will be six, nine months ago, and tariff reflects the impact of war and business and all that – but they still think that we grow. And we are growing at a slow rate, says, one and a half percent this year, a little more, and then a little more. But it will take inflation – to get inflation out of the system for the fed, actually up to 2% level at the end of ’27 by ‘by the end of26. And that’s why they have a fed holding. They believe that in the middle of next year, the fed will begin to cut and bring the rate of Fed funds closely, which would be a higher normal rate, about three percent, three and a half percent.
Margaret Brainon: Even though we have seen this, in fact, it is said by two members of the Fed, we need to move forward at interest rates. Your prediction from your economists is that it is not appropriate at this time.
Brian Mionihan: They do not think it is – they are going to move. Now, the market says they are going to go in September, perhaps twice this year. The market was seven times in one issue this year. Now they are below two – then they are down to one, now they are up to two. It is going to roam around, but the reality is that, two things should actually keep in mind. One is, until the inflation is out of the system, the fed is going to be a little careful, and that is what he said. And then the second thing, the rate we are going is more common than 3%, 3.5% percent rate, which actually means that the American economy is probably better, clearly functioning.
Margaret Brainon: So at that point, Wall Street Journal, we were reading, put the increase in tariff tax as a cost of $ 360 billion per year. This is one of the largest tax growth in history, they say. Do you believe the arguments of the administration that it is really only foreigners that are going to pay its cost. Do you think economists are eliminating negative effects?
Bryan Mionihan: Okay, I think no one really knows, honestly, because it is a different rule than before. And there- so they are trying to extract extracts with things 50 years ago, when economies were separate structured. Our team feels that it affects inflation about A, you know, 30, 40 basis points-
Margaret Brainan: People are paying to connect the meaning.
Brian Mionihan: Yes, adding inflation rate in the United States. But we need to back up. The real impact right now is the new Trump administration that is coming in four or five policy sectors, which were actually going after learn in four years, they had to move forward very quickly. They were around trades and tariffs, immigration and taxation and deragulation. What business are, and I was in midwests with just a group of businesses, they are all trying to do what the answer would be so that they can move forward and make their plans for ’26. So the activity that has slowed down is just trying to answer with people. This does not mean that every answer is acceptable. Most are answers. So what do they have? Obviously, a tax bill is happening. This is a good answer for business, as it makes rates permanent. What is the second thing to which their answer is. They now have an answer on the range of trade possibilities. And so as they think of business prospects, they sit there and say, tariffs cannot be worse than X. They are looking at some deals, all of which are good work. They have no answer, this is the deragulation. Yes, new rules are closed, but they are expecting more deregulation, so that their business models will help move forward. And then there is the final immigration. Will immigration will really settle like this. And this is what they tell us. So they are not using their credits’ rows, they are not- from them the indications from them are those they are a little more alert, actually waiting for some answers.
Margaret Brainon: Businesses have not been hired, either, we saw in the figures of this job on Friday, it was the worst three months for the development of the job since the epidemic. Your firm, when I was reading analysis, indicates many different factors, and one of them is artificial intelligence and adopts to recruit that effect. How dramatically is the job market being shaped again?
Brian Mionihan: I think it is a question of about a glass of half, half an empty type of thing. So the effect-
Margaret Brain: No punishment.
Brian Mionihan: absolutely, forgive it. But the impact of technology on human work materials as a percentage of productivity has been very large. In our company- in 2010 when I started with the management team, we had 285,000 people. Today we have 212,000 people. This was the influence of technology. We are big, more customers, more transactions, more reports to the government, more data, ET Cetera. So the effect has always been very big. AI gives you a place to go that we have never been able to go before. In other words, they are jobs that take lessons, think about it, and produce it. Many, many jobs in a company. Our research team, now you can use a machine to increase that activity. So we believe that people exploit AI for their benefit, are going to be very successful. My partners who exploit AI for their benefits are very successful. It is now nervous for young children, saying if there will be jobs for me?
Margaret Brainan: Right.
Brian Mionihan: Then I say, look back historically. Many people are working in America. And think that the amount of technology has come in the last 50 years, and we have twice to work twice in this country as we did 50 years ago, twice many times, and the population has increased only one third. So think about that dynamic because it finds its way. It is half of the glass. But it will have an impact. I don’t think it is still impressing it very much, because many companies are just trying to find out how to use it. Technology has affected, and AI gives it a place to go to it. It has not yet gone.
Margaret Brainon: So we are all talking about unknown and why it is difficult to model things right now. Well, on Friday, the President opened fire, as you know, the leading statistician who comes with the number of these jobs and presents them to the public. During the first Trump administration, the former chief came out in his defense and said that it is without merit, and it reduces the credibility of data. Are you worried about this firing, and do you think there is political pressure here?
Brian Mionihan: Okay, I think it’s more politics. And I know that I am in Washington, DC, and this is what we are going to talk-
[CROSSTALK]
Margaret Brainon: is government data, is-
Bryan Mionihan: But the reality is, data-
Margaret Brainan: Extremely important modeling
Brian Mionihan: This is 2025
Margaret Brainon: As you know.
[END CROSSTALK]
Brian Mionihan: This is 2025 and should be able to have data- they use surveys and such things, which, clearly, are not just as effective. So if you look at the rate of those who respond to their surveys, it is below the level of 60% from the level of 60%. You know, we do not use surveys (unknown). We see what consumers really do. We see what business really does. They can get this data, I think, other ways and I think where this focus should be. How do we get data more flexible and more approximate and more understandable? Because whatever bounces around is restoration, and it was one of the biggest sanctions, going back to five or seven years in the epidemic, five years in the epidemic, which raises doubts around it. And so I think there is the key, let’s meet- let’s spend some money. Let’s bring the information together. Let’s find where and where the government has been told. We report millions and millions of data points to the government every day. The data is outside.
Margaret Brainon: Finally, back in January, you were in Davos, President Trump talked about Bank of America.
Trump on Tape: Many conservatives complained that banks were not allowing them to trade within the bank, and it includes a place called Bank of America. This conservative- they do not take conservative business. And I don’t know if the regulators said that due to biden or what.
Margaret Brainon: Do you want to answer the allegation that conservatives are not allowed to trade with your bank?
Brian Mionihan: We have 70 million consumers, and we are the largest small business lender. This is not- the issue on which they are focusing is a regulatory impact on this industry. And you heard Senator Scott talking about this this week. This reputation, after the fact, see that you had a bank, and now after this fact, you say that there was no X what you thought. So we see it. We see it on the basis of risk. People may feel that those decisions are made for some other reason, but we always make it what is the best for our company, what is the best for our customer.
Margaret Brainon: Are there industries with which you are doing uncomfortable business?
Brian Mionihan: No, we actually trade-
Margaret Brainan: guns, oil and gas, tobacco, all of this?
Brian Mionihan: We trade with all those industries. Individual companies due to credit decision accessories, it is different. But the reality is that if they give us clarity from the regulator thing and avoid the second estimate, it will be helpful, and I think the President’s gesture, if you hear it.
Margaret Brainon: All is well. Brian Moionihan, thanks you for giving you some insight into the data you are seeing. Face the Nation will return in a moment. stay with us.
