April 30, 2019 — A century ago, the gold standard was considered a guarantor of monetary stability. That golden era is long-gone. (If it ever really existed at all. The general price level fell 53% in US and 45% in the UK during 1873-1896 due to a dearth of gold deposit discoveries.)
Continuing my thoughts on the Fed candidacy of Stephen Moore: he has said several times that he favors a return to gold. In true Trumpian fashion, he recently denied having said it despite the clear video evidence.
April 30, 2019 — Of the two men whom Donald Trump had intended to nominate to empty seats on the Federal Reserve Board, Herman Cain has now withdrawn his name. This leaves the other one, Stephen Moore.
The Senate would have to decide whether to confirm Moore. He has some problems roughly analogous to Cain’s: he is considered to be under an ethical cloud and he often gets his economic facts wrong. Cynics might respond that he would thereby fit right in with the roster of Trump nominees throughout the government. But Trump’s earlier appointments to the Fed have been people of ability and integrity and have been doing a good job, Chair Jerome Powell in particular. Perhaps Trump did not start paying attention to Fed appointments until recently.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Richard Clarida is one of the candidates for Fed Vice Chair who is most actively under the consideration by the Administration. His obvious qualifications are an outstanding academic reputation (Columbia University and the NBER), experience in government (in the George W. Bush Treasury) and now ten years of experience in the financial markets (at PIMCO). But some might be interested in a talent that is less widely known: Rock music performer.
I first became aware of Rich when he was still a grad student, playing rhythm guitar and singing in a convincing Beatles tribute band that performed in Harvard Square. Over the years he has recorded an oeuvre of songs – some of them at the Beatles’ old Abbey Road studio. He released a CD under the name Time No Changes in 2016. He composes the songs, writes the lyrics and sings the vocals, backed by an assembled group of studio musicians. You can get the individual songs on Spotify, but I have just listened to the CD.