Wednesday, July 3, 2019

News Note: Dr. Judy Shelton to Be Nominated for Position at the Federal Reserve

This news comes as no surprise as she has been thought to be the next nominee for some time and had confirmed that she was contacted for the position by the White House. Dr. Shelton kindly took some time last summer to do a brief interview here on her thoughts about the potential for monetary system reform. Below are some links to recent news articles and Twitter comments related to her nomination.


The President also announced he intended to nominate Dr. Christoper Waller of the St. Louis Fed to fill another vacant position on the Board of Governors. If he and Dr. Shelton are confirmed by the Senate, all Board of Governor seats at the Fed would be filled. Dr. Shelton was previously confirmed by the Senate for her current position at the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development).




Judy Shelton when appointed to the EBRD

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President Trump's Tweet on the Intention to Nominate

Twitter reply from Dr. Shelton

Jim Rickards Twitter Comment


Wall Street Journal

"President Trump tweeted Tuesday that he intended to nominate economist Judy Shelton, the U.S. executive director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to become a Federal Reserve Board governor. She served as an economic adviser on Mr. Trump’s transition team and has worked for the Atlas Network, a think tank that has been critical of the Fed’s monetary policy and that has advocated for a return to the gold standard."


NBC News

"President Donald Trump intends to nominate Christopher Waller, executive vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and Judy Shelton, an economic adviser to the president during his 2016 campaign, to the Federal Reserve’s board."


The Hill

"President Trump announced Tuesday evening that he intends to nominate Christopher Waller and Judy Shelton to fill the two vacancies on the Federal Reserve board of governors."

NY Post

"Waller previously served as an economics professor at the University of Notre Dame. Shelton is a founding member of the board of directors of Empower America and previously served on the board of directors of Hilton Hotels, Trump wrote in a tweet Tuesday."

The Week.com

"A conservative critic of the Federal Reserve, Shelton served as an economic adviser to the Trump campaign, is U.S. executive director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and has a PhD in business administration from the University of Utah. Waller is director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, holds a PhD in economics from Washington State University, and was once a professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame."

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My added comments: Readers here may wish to review some blog articles we have written here that cover Dr. Shelton (see links below).


Her Kemp Foundation Presentation in April 2017


Dr. Shelton calls for Monetary System Reform "linked in some way to gold" (Cato Journal - Spring 2018)


Brief Twitter exchange on her thoughts on a "new common currency"


Dr. Shelton - Her thoughts on the Potential for Monetary System Reform (also linked above)

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One more added comment: Dr. Shelton is sometimes portrayed as being an advocate for a return to a gold standard. However, my reading of her views suggests a more nuanced approach. It seems to me that she realizes a sudden conversion to a gold standard is unlikely to take place as I read and listen to her comments. 

In her speeches and articles I have linked above, please note that she tends to talk more about a possible first step being for the US to issue gold backed government bonds to see how the markets react (not a sudden return to a gold standard). In recent interviews, she has called for lowering the interest rate the Fed pays to banks for reserves over a gradual time frame (she believes this Fed policy may discourage banks from lending to small businesses). So I don't see her as calling for any kind of sudden radical changes. I do expect she would be bold about speaking up for ideas for reform and the proper role for the Fed that she believes in as she has always done in the past. The links above will give you a good overview on some of her views.

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Added unrelated news note: A group of Democrats in the US House issue a letter to Facebook asking them to stop moving forward on the Libra Project until Congress can evaluate the proposal more in depth. Here is one interesting statement in the letter (underline is my addition):

"While Facebook has published a "white paper" on these projects, the scant information provided about the intent, roles, potential use, and security of the Libra and Calibra exposes the massive scale of the risks and the lack of clear regulatory protections. If products and services like these are left improperly regulated and without sufficient oversight, they could pose systemic risks that endanger U.S. and global financial stability."

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