Politicize the Fed — just not with Judy Shelton

Democratizing the central bank doesn't have to mean appointing political hacks

Judy Shelton.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images, BackyardProduction/iStock)

President Trump has not had an easy time appointing new members to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors. His latest pick, Judy Shelton, doesn't look like she'll improve the streak: Shelton got grilled by the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, and several Republicans as well as the committee's Democrats were left underwhelmed. Both Sens. Patrick Toomey (R-Pa.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) expressed "concerns" after the hearing.

The fundamental complaint with Shelton among mainstream observers is that she would "politicize" the Fed. But that's an idea that deserves to be picked apart a bit, because there are actually good and bad ways "politicizing" the Fed could go.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.