Friday, March 29, 2024

Who Should Trump Appoint to the Fed? Here’s a Perfect Choice

Federal Reserve watchers are eagerly awaiting President Trump’s appointments for two vacant positions on the central bank’s board of governors. While you won’t see much discussion about these candidates on cable news, make no mistake — filling the Fed Board of Governors will be among the most critical personnel and economic decisions that the Trump administration makes. For those of us who wish for a more transparent Fed that remains laser focused on maintaining a stable, sound dollar, out of all of the rumored candidates, one name inspires significantly more enthusiasm than the rest: Dr. Judy Shelton.

As the New York Sun editorial board wrote in their endorsement of Judy Shelton:

[President Trump is] considering nominating to its board of governors the economist Judy Shelton. The Sun endorses her heartily. It would mark a brilliant start to redeeming his campaign promises in respect of monetary policy and our central bank.

Ms. Shelton is no stranger to readers of Sun editorials — or the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal. She has long since emerged as one of the most articulate, but measured, advocates of the idea that our economic troubles spring in large part, if not exclusively, from the fiat nature of our currency. And that we need to bring back into our political economy the idea of sound money.

We wrote about Ms. Shelton when she delivered at Jackson Hole a speech challenging the notion that the gold standard was “crazy.” And also when, two years ago, she issued in the Wall Street Journal an op-ed piece about how Mr. Trump is right in suggesting that monetary manipulation is a real problem. We called her “The Woodpecker” for the way she has kept hammering away at the issue.

Dr. Shelton has served as co-director of the Atlas Network’s Sound Money Project as well as an economic advisor to President Trump. She recently lent her intellectual firepower to Steve Forbes’ PBS documentary “In Money We Trust” where she elaborated her views on monetary policy. Writing for The American Thinker, Pat Hall praised Dr. Shelton as one of “the New England Patriots of monetary policy” who has championed the conversation on how our unstable dollar has been a deterrent to economic growth. 

Conservatives have long sought meaningful reforms to ‘mend’ the Fed. Judy Shelton is the economist who can deliver. Dr. Shelton’s career-long track record of fighting to make sure a dollar today is worth a dollar tomorrow makes her the most qualified candidate for the job. If President Trump appoints Judy Shelton, he’ll get it right on the money.

Photo credit: stantontcady via Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0

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