Sunday, May 9, 2021

Judy Shelton Sticks It to The Senate That Didn't Confirm Her Nomination to the Federal Reserve

Judy Shelton

 

Judy Shelton just scored a bunch of points with me.

Shelton was nominated by President Trump for a position on the Federal Reserve Board. Her nomination failed because of fate and some Trump-hating cronies.

Two senators, who would have voted for her confirmation, had gone into quarantine at the time of the vote because of exposure to COVID-19, Charles Grassley of Iowa and Rick Scott of Florida. And with the super-establishment water carriers Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee voting against her, she didn't have the votes to gain confirmation. She missed by one vote.

At the time of her nomination, I had mixed feelings about her. Although she had in the past written favorably about a gold standard, she was walking back a lot of her sound money talk to gain the confirmation. Who knows how she would act on the Fed?

But an op-ed by her this past week in The Wall Street Journal was a real eye-opener

She appears to have taken guidance from Sheakpare who wrote, "Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie."

In the op-ed, she decried the groupthink of current Fed members:

In the aftermath of an economic and financial challenge that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently likened to Dunkirk—the urgent rescue of British and other Allied troops from France in World War II—there’s a remarkable uniformity of opinion on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Apparently, they all agree on the appropriateness of the Fed’s monetary-policy decisions. That’s what worries me.

While it might seem reassuring when members of an institution concur, the Fed’s tendency toward groupthink carries the risk of missing other important perspectives. Forging a consensus can mean trimming the edges of troubling concerns over future development.

Got that? 

The entire Fed is thinking the same way. There is no difference of opinion. They are all in line with the mad money pumping going on at the Fed. 

She added:

[E]ven as financial markets signal uneasiness about the effect of inflationary pressures, Mr. Powell has maintained steadfastly that the Fed will be “patient” in keeping interest rates near zero through 2023. He also promises the central bank will continue purchasing at least $120 billion of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities every month (adding $1.44 trillion annually to the Fed’s balance sheet) until “we’ve made substantial further progress toward our goals.”

Echoing this commitment to easy-money policies stretching well ahead, Fed Gov. Lael Brainard’s speech in March to the National Association for Business Economics was titled “Remaining Patient as the Outlook Brightens.”

Is such sanguinity reassuring?

This essay makes clear that even without hormone shots and transgender artificial testicles, she has more balls than anyone currently at the Fed. 

Price inflation is about to get out of control and a voice like Shelton's at the Fed would have at least served as a voice challenging the groupthink. A much-needed voice.

If you read between the lines, this is what she is saying.

She is knifing Romney, Collins and Alexander. 

When the price inflation hits and it is asked how could so much groupthink ended up at the Fed, it can be said, Romney, Collins and Alexander stopped a sound money-leaning independent voice from getting on the Fed.

 -RW

4 comments:

  1. Much like Greenspan's comments about gold before he took over the Fed, I doubt she wouldn't go along with the program if she were onboard. Besides, what's one lousy vote against the consensus clowns?

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    Replies
    1. A small light in the darkness can be seen by many.

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    2. Example: Ron Paul

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  2. Like she has this magical ability that no one else at the fed possesses to avoid group think? Maybe we can somehow isolate that gene...

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