Trump's Fed picks: Waller and Shelton
After a yearlong assault on the Federal Reserve and its chairman, President Donald Trump has tapped two wildly different economists to the central bank’s board who seemingly have one important thing in common.
They’re both likely to support the president’s call for lower interest rates.
One, Christopher Waller, is largely a conventional choice. Drawn from within the Fed’s own ranks, he’s been consistent in his calls for a more dovish approach over the years. The other, Judy Shelton, has spent decades outside mainstream economics and recently appears to have completed a metamorphosis from proponent of returning to the gold standard -- a concept broadly espoused by those who feel monetary policy is too lax -- to an advocate of the need for more stimulus.
“It seems like both are going to be in favor of lower rates, and sooner rather than later,” said Kathleen Bostjancic, an economist at Oxford Economics in New York. “They are much more dovish, and obviously that’s what President Trump wants.”
Waller is director of research for St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard, who was the only dissenting vote in favor of a rate cut at the Fed’s meeting in June. Shelton, who has been an informal adviser to Trump, has publicly said the central bank should reduce rates.
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