Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
We in the Clinton administration established the norm that Governors of the Federal Reserve should be people capable of going toe-to-toe in argument with the Fed Chair, on the grounds that the Fed Chair needed competent intellectual sparring partners if he or she, and the staff that did his or her bidding, was not to fall victim to groupthink. One of those who personally benefitted most from this norm was Larry Lindsey, who was chosen as and was quite an effective Fed Governor under George W. Bush.
But now, for some short-term advantage or other, Larry is trying to blow up this norm and outdo others in obsequious toadying to Trump.
Neither Steve Moore nor Herman Cain can make a coherent forecast. Both are for lower interest rates when Republicans and higher interest rates when Democrats are President. Neither will have the slightest impact on the thinking of the Chair or of the staff—instead, the staff will start playing the pre-Clinton administration game of, as one friend of mine who worked for the Fed called it, "Look! Here's a Governor! Let's see if we can make him say something really stupid!"
I wonder what Larry Lindsey says to himself in the morning when he looks in the mirror, and the mirror looks back and says: "You benefitted from this norm of professionalism required for Fed Governors. Now you are trying to break it. What kind of a person are you?":
Larry Lindsey: Defending Trump's Likely Fed Nominees: "Steve Moore has a master's in economics from George Mason..... Herman Cain was chairman of the board of the Kansas City Federal Reserve. He is obviously aware of how the Federal Reserve operates and how monetary policy is made.... I am a firm believer in having a variety of views, including those I do not necessarily agree with, expressed. Diversity of thought, not credentialism, is what the board needs...
#noted
