Thread by @pleasesaveour

‼️Trump Fed nominee and the politicization of the Fed. A Thread...

#JudyShelton is an outspoken critic of the Fed. Some say she would bring fresh air to the central bank. Others say she would undermine economic policy.

washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…

Shelton has spent years advocating for the US to return to something akin to the gold standard, a view outside the mainstream that many econs say could hamper the nation’s ability to fight recessions.
washingtonpost.com/business/2019/…

More troubling to many is that Shelton criticized ultralow interest rates when President Barack Obama was in office but has recently embraced them, seemingly to align with Trump.

nymag.com/intelligencer/…

Below are direct quotes from Shelton on some of the hottest topics in econs and monetary policy.

1. Fed independence

“I don’t see any reference to independence in the legislation that has defined the role of the Fed for the US

“It would be in keeping with its historical

mandate if the Fed were to pursue a more coordinated relationship with both Congress and the president,”

wsj.com/articles/the-f…

Gold.
Shelton has been one of the leading proponents of linking the U.S. dollar to gold, silver or another clear benchmark so its value does not move around as much. The nation began to abandon the gold standard in the 1930s and fully exited it in 1971.
investopedia.com/ask/answers/09…

“Let’s go back to the gold standard. Under a gold standard, if people think the paper money printed by government is losing value, they have the right to switch to gold.”
wsj.com/articles/SB123…

She has gone as far as talking about how the US could transition back to a system like the gold standard by having the U.S. Treasury issue bonds that could be redeemed for literal gold.

Shelton has been an outspoken Fed critic

“Why do we need a central bank?”
wsj.com/articles/SB123…
She argued that putting “rules-based policy” in place to automatically set interest rates would be better than giving Fed leaders “unrestrained discretionary authority”

She didn’t like low interest rates — until Trump came into office.

“Loose monetary policy is bad for you and for your economic prospects”
washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standar…
But she called for a large interest rate cut in July

“I would lower rates as fast, as efficiently, as expeditiously as possible.”

Shelton has been clear that she wants to see so-called interest on excess reserves, the mechanism the Fed uses to control interest rates, go to zero.
washingtonpost.com/business/2019/…

Notice where she is saying all these things RW print and podcasts🤔

Shelton doesn’t like that the Fed buys government bonds, one of the major tools used to pump money into the financial system in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

cato.org/multimedia/dai…

“I don’t see why a central bank should even be allowed to buy government debt. That’s just a conflict of interest right there. What the Federal Reserve is doing is very close to central planning.”

Shelton favors Bitcoin!!!🚨🚨🚨arguing that there should be more competition against the dollar

“A modern version of this approach — one that permits the issuance of virtual currencies in tandem with gov-issued currencies adapting legal tender laws to permit healthy currency

competition — should be put forward,”

I bet she's changed her mind on this one!

Shelton has advocated for open borders between the US and Mexico and for a single currency in NA

wsj.com/articles/SB967…

Shelton has questioned the accuracy of US govstatistics. Yet many econs and former gov officials have defended US gov stat agencies for thorough and unbiased data

“I don’t trust the statistics on GDP growth or on inflation,”

cato.org/multimedia/eve…

🛎️And here you go, a Trump pundit

Shelton wants an international monetary conference at Mar-a-Lago

She wants to see a new Bretton Woods-style conf to reset the international monetary system. “If it takes place at Mar-a-Lago that would be great,”

ft.com/content/d92145…

“We make America great again by making America’s money great again,”

FYI, the US dollar is one of the strongest in the world right now. What she means is make the US dollar dirty AF

marketwatch.com/investing/inde…

She has advocated for getting rid of FDIC! Which makes sense since she's an advocate of Bitcoin

“Eliminating would restore the essential character of banking as a vehicle for channeling financial capital into productive invs

She's a fuqqing nightmare
nytimes.com/2020/02/13/bus…

@threadreaderapp unroll please