Judy Shelton at the Fed? NOT!

President Trump is at it again. After failing to appoint such losers as Stephen Moore and Herman Cain, he is trying again with Judy Shelton. Similar to the other two failed appointees, Shelton is a Trump sycophant. Long a hard money supporter of the gold standard, Shelton pilloried the Fed's easy money policies during the early recovery from the Great Financial Crisis. Why? Obama was president.

Now with the economy at full employment she as an advocate of easy money. To her the very accommodative Fed has been too tight and further she supports devaluing the dollar. Why? She is sucking up to Trump. What's worse if she is appointed she would likely work to spy on the Fed for Trump. She would hardly be a person "who plays well with others." 

Shelton is a far cry from Trump's other proposed appointee, Christopher Waller, a long time research official at the St. Louis Fed. Waller should sail through, while it would behoove the Senate Banking Committee to stop the Shelton appointment in its tracks. 

Donald the Destroyer

To paraphrase a question that will be asked in two weeks, "Why is the Fed different from any other institution?" Answer: It is not. With President Trump's incessant criticism of Fed policy and his proposal to nominate two sycophants, Stephen Moore and Herman Cain, to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, we now have proof that he is out to bully and then destroy the institution. Hopefully cooler heads in the Senate will prevail and not confirm the nominees, but I fear that thought might be the triumph of hope over experience

Coming before the Fed has been the F.B.I., the C.I.A., NATO, EPA, State Department and host of other agencies. Simply put the guard rails designed to protect our democracy and our economy are one by one being destroyed. Although stock market reaction to Trump's announcement has thus far been benign, I don't want to see what would happen in a crisis. Trust me, it will be ugly.