Trump Fed Pick Judy Shelton Shares Extreme Monetary Policy Views With Her Good Friend, Stephen Moore

This press release was originally posted through Allied Progress. Allied Progress is now Accountable.US.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In reaction to President Trump’s announcement that he intends to nominate Judy Shelton for the Fed Reserve Board, consumer watchdog group Allied Progress called the choice ‘Stephen Moore 2.0’ in light of her long-time working relationship with Moore and her similarly fringe views on monetary policy like returning to the gold standard.

“Judy Shelton may not be as ostentatious or offensive as Trump’s failed Fed picks Stephen Moore and Herman Cain, but her relevant policy views are just as irresponsible and extreme,” said Jeremy Funk, spokesman for consumer watchdog group Allied Progress. “There aren’t many respected economists from either side of the political spectrum who think returning to the gold standard is rational, yet somehow President Trump found a third person who loves the idea that he wants overseeing the nation’s monetary policy for the next four years. After bowing out from Fed consideration over his offensive views on race and women, Stephen Moore’s group has been pushing for his old friend to take his place — and that should give the Senate pause.”

• PREVIOUS FROM ALLIED PROGRESS: STEPHEN MOORE WITHDRAWS FROM FED CONSIDERATION BUT WILL KEEP ADVISING TRUMP DESPITE SHAMEFUL VIEWS

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Judy Shelton Is A Longtime Colleague Of Stephen Moore, Who Has Endorsed Her For The Federal Reserve Board After His Failed Nomination.

Judy Shelton Has “Worked For A Long Time With Stephen Moore” And The Two Are Reportedly “Friends.”

Judy Shelton Has Said She “Worked For A Long Time With Stephen Moore And Larry Kudlow.” “I’ve worked for a long time with Stephen Moore and Larry Kudlow, and Larry asked me if I had some thoughts for the Trump campaign on the issues I discuss most.” [Chris Matthews, “This Trump Economic Advisor Wants America to Go Back to the Gold Standard,”Fortune, 08/18/16]

The New York Times Reported That Judy Shelton Is “Friends” With Stephen Moore. “Ms. Shelton, who is friends with both Mr. Kudlow and Mr. Moore.” [Jeanna Smialek, “Trump Team Vets Fed Critic for Board Seat,” The New York Times , 05/21/19]

Stephen Moore Recommended President Trump Nominate Judy Shelton To The Federal Reserve Board, Praising Her As A “Fantastic” “Expert On Monetary Policy.”

Stephen Moore Has Suggested Judy Shelton Should Be Appointed To The Federal Reserve Board, Describing Her As “Just Fantastic” And An “Expert On Monetary Policy.” “Trump is considering ‘excellent people’ for the post who have similar ‘philosophical grounding’ to himself, Moore said. He suggested that Judy Shelton, an economic adviser to Trump, is an ideal nominee. ‘I think she’s just fantastic. She’d be better than me on the Fed, frankly. She’s an expert on monetary policy,” Moore said. “Judy would be an excellent choice.’ Similar to Trump, Moore, and Cain, Shelton is a critic of the Federal Reserve’s current monetary policy.” [Ivan Pentchoukov and Jan Jekielek, “Moore Explains Why He Withdrew From Consideration for Federal Reserve,” The Epoch Times, 05/06/19]

Stephen Moore Said He Was “Really Pushing” For Judy Shelton’s Appointment To The Federal Reserve Board.

During An Interview With Hill.TV, Stephen Moore Stated That He Was “Really Pushing” For President Trump To Nominate Judy Shelton To The Federal Reserve Board.  “Moore expressed disappointment throughout the interview that he was not able to fully see through the nomination process but said he was recommending some other people for the job. ‘Here we are at the Heritage Foundation, we have some great economists — David Burton, Paul Winfree who would be excellent Fed members. The person I’m really pushing with The White House right now is a woman named Judy Shelton who was a Jack Kemp economist many years ago. Fantastic, I can’t think of anybody better than Judy,’ he said.” [“Moore: Trump ‘fully supportive’ till end, doesn’t blame GOP female senators,”The Hill, 05/03/19]

Stephen Moore’s Political Group Is Now Pushing Judy Shelton’s Nomination After Burnishing Her Reputation For Years.

The Committee To Unleash Prosperity, A Political Group Co-Founded By Stephen Moore, Is Pushing For Judy Shelton’s Appointment To The Federal Reserve Board After Boosting Her Profile Since At Least Early 2016.

The Committee To Unleash Prosperity Has Said, “Judy Shelton Would Make An Excellent Addition To The Fed’s Board Of Governors.” [Jonathan Decker, “Judy Shelton Would Make An Excellent Addition To The Fed’s Board Of Governors,” Committee to Unleash Prosperity, accessed 05/22/19]

The Committee To Unleash Prosperity Has Said, “An Excellent Replacement For Herman Cain Would Be Judy Shelton.” [Tweet by Committee to Unleash Prosperity, 04/23/19, accessed 05/22/19]

In July 2019, The Committee To Unleash Prosperity’s Co-Founder Arthur Laffer Said Judy Shelton Should Be Confirmed By The Senate. [Tweet by Committee to Unleash Prosperity, 07/08/19, accessed 01/17/20]

The Committee To Unleash Prosperity Has Posted Positive Tweets About Judy Shelton As Early As March 2016. [Tweet by Committee to Unleash Prosperity, 03/21/16, accessed 05/22/19]

The Committee To Unleash Prosperity Enthusiastically Announced Judy Shelton’s Confirmation To Be U.S. Executive Director Of The European Bank For Reconstruction And Development. The Committee To Unleash Prosperity Released A Website Post Titled, “Dr. Judy Shelton appointed executive director of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development!” [Jonathan Decker, “Dr. Judy Shelton appointed executive director of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development!,” Committee to Unleash Prosperity, accessed 05/22/19]

Stephen Moore Is One Of The “Founders” Of The Committee To Unleash Prosperity. [“Founders,” Committee to Unleash Prosperity, accessed 05/22/19]

Like Stephen Moore, Judy Shelton Has Promoted A Gold Standard To Make “America’s Money Great Again” And Called For A Less Independent And More Politically-Subservient Federal Reserve.

Judy Shelton Has Called For Interest Rates To Be Fixed To The Price Of Gold, Which Would Bind The Federal Reserve’s Ability To Stop The Economy From Overheating And Causing A Financial Bubble.

Judy Shelton Has Called For A Change In Federal Reserve Policy Where “Interest Rates Would Have To Be Adjusted To Keep The Dollar’s Value Fixed Against The Price Of Gold.” “[…] Ms. Shelton has favored returning to a gold standard, where interest rates would have to be adjusted to keep the dollar’s value fixed against the price of gold.” [Nick Timiraos, “Potential Fed Nominee Would Seek Shake-Up of Interest-Rate Policy,”The Wall Street Journal, 05/21/19]

The Federal Reserve Sets The Interest Rate Higher “To Prevent The Economy From Overheating And Causing Inflation Or A Financial Bubble.” “Higher rates are meant to prevent the economy from overheating and causing inflation or a financial bubble. After holding rates near zero following the 2008 financial crisis, the Fed has raised its benchmark rate eight times since December 2015, including three times this year.” [Nick Timiraos, “Fed Officials See Strong Economy Justifying Interest Rate Rises,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/11/18]

• Interest Rates Are Already Historically Low. In September of 2018, “officials boosted the rate to a range between 2% and 2.25%. But it remains low historically: It averaged 4% over the 1990s and 2000s.” [Nick Timiraos, “Fed Officials See Strong Economy Justifying Interest Rate Rises,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/11/18]

Judy Shelton Has Called For A Gold Standard, Arguing That “We Make America Great Again By Making America’s Money Great Again.”

Judy Shelton Has Said “We Make America Great Again By Making America’s Money Great Again” As She Advocated A Gold- Or Commodity-Based Currency. “Her preference for a linked currency — one tied to gold or some other reference point, rather than simply backed by faith in the government — would make her unique among her colleagues. She wrote in 2018 that ‘we make America great again by making America’s money great again.’” [Jeanna Smialek, “Trump Team Vets Fed Critic for Board Seat,” TheNew York Times, 05/21/19]

Economists Have Criticized Shelton’s Stance Because “A Gold Standard Handcuffs The Central Bank In A Downturn” And Reduces Its Ability To Respond To Economic Developments. “Many economists argue a gold standard handcuffs the central bank in a downturn, and it isn’t clear such a rate setting would give Mr. Trump the lower rates he has called for.” [Nick Timiraos, “Potential Fed Nominee Would Seek Shake-Up of Interest-Rate Policy,” The Wall Street Journal, 05/21/19]

Judy Shelton Has Questioned The “‘Infallibility’” And Independence Of The Federal Reserve, Qualities That Help The Institution To Impartially “Make Sound Economic Analysis” As It Maintains The Dollar’s Role As The Global Reserve Currency.

Judy Shelton Said It Was “‘Entirely Prudent To Question The Infallibility Of The Federal Reserve In Calibrating The Money Supply To The Needs Of The Economy.’” “In April, Shelton wrote a commentary for the Wall Street Journal entitled ‘The Case for Monetary Regime Change.’ She said it was ‘entirely prudent to question the infallibility of the Federal Reserve in calibrating the money supply to the needs of the economy.’” [Saleha Mohsin, Jennifer Jacobs, and Margaret Talev, “White House Considers Economist Judy Shelton for Fed Board,” Bloomberg, 05/10/19]

A Less Independent And More Political Federal Reserve Would Threaten The U.S.’s “Role As The Global Reserve Currency” And “The Credibility The Fed Has Accumulated Over Decades.” “The risk of more overt political divisions within the Fed would come over time, if the Fed came to be seen as basing decisions on the political impulses of appointees rather than on sound economic analysis. The United States’ role as the global reserve currency — which results in persistently low interest rates and little fear of capital flight — is built in significant part on the credibility the Fed has accumulated over decades.” [Neil Irwin, “What’s at Risk if the Fed Becomes as Partisan as the Rest of Washington,” The New York Times, 04/06/19]

• The Federal Reserve’s Independence During The Financial Crisis Allowed It To “Stimulate The United States Economy Without A Loss Of Faith In The Dollar And Treasury Bonds By Global Investors.” “During the global financial crisis and its aftermath, for example, the Fed could feel comfortable pursuing efforts to stimulate the United States economy without a loss of faith in the dollar and Treasury bonds by global investors.” [Neil Irwin, “What’s at Risk if the Fed Becomes as Partisan as the Rest of Washington,” The New York Times, 04/06/19]

Judy Shelton Blamed The Federal Reserve For The Financial Crisis And Said It Worsened The Downturn By Not Giving Banks Enough Incentive To Lend.

Judy Shelton Has Criticized The Federal Reserve, Arguing “‘No Other Government Institution Had More Influence’” Over The Conditions That Created The 2008 Financial Crisis And That The Federal Reserve May Have Worsened The Crisis By “‘Lowering The Incentive For Banks To Fund Private-Sector Growth.’” “She has also been an outspoken opponent of the Fed, criticizing the central bank’s policies as a driver of the 2008 financial crisis and its attempt to clean up the mess. ‘No other government institution had more influence over the creation of money and credit in the lead-up to the devastating 2008 global meltdown,’ she wrote in The Wall Street Journal […]. ‘And the Fed’s response to the meltdown may have exacerbated the damage by lowering the incentive for banks to fund private-sector growth.’” [Jeanna Smialek, “Trump Team Vets Fed Critic for Board Seat,” TheNew York Times, 05/21/19]

Judy Shelton Has Said That Central Banks Are “‘A Demoralizing Force For Free Markets.’”

Judy Shelton Has Said That Central Banks Like The Federal Reserve “‘Have Been A Demoralizing Force For Free Markets.’” “‘It’s fair to challenge the models and practices of the Federal Reserve, and to say, ‘Is this is the best we could do?’ Ms. Shelton said. ‘Central banks, to some extent, have been a demoralizing force for free markets.’” [Jeanna Smialek, “Trump Team Vets Fed Critic for Board Seat,” TheNew York Times, 05/21/19]

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