Judy Shelton
Judy Lynn Shelton (born 1953 or 1954) is an American economic advisor to President Donald Trump.[1] She is known for her advocacy for a return to the gold standard and for her criticisms of the Federal Reserve.[2][3][4] Trump announced on July 2, 2019, that he would nominate Shelton to the Fed, and her nomination is currently pending in the Senate.[5][6][7]
Judy Shelton | |
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Personal details | |
Born | 1953/1954 (age 66–67) Los Angeles, California |
Political party | Republican |
Education | Portland State University (BS) University of Utah (MBA, PhD) |
Early life and education
Shelton was born in Los Angeles and raised in suburban San Fernando Valley. One of five children, Shelton's father was a businessman and her mother was a homemaker.[8] Shelton attended Portland State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Education.[9] Shelton also earned a MBA and Ph.D in business administration from the University of Utah.[9][10][11]
Politics
She worked at the Hoover Institution from 1985 to 1995.[4] She was on Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.[4] In 2016, she was on the Ben Carson presidential campaign, but joined the Trump campaign in August 2016 after writing a supportive Wall Street Journal opinion editorial about Trump.[4]
In 2012, Judy Shelton joined TheGoldStandardNow.Org as a senior advisor.[12]
Prior to joining the Trump administration, she was the director of the Sound Money Project[13] at the Atlas Network. In a video interview with The Atlas Network she described currency counterfeiter Bernard von NotHaus as "the Rosa Parks of monetary policy."[14] She has donated to conservative candidates and causes.[4]
In 2000, she advocated for open borders with Mexico.[15]
In March 2018, she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the United States director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.[16][17] The Wall Street Journal reports that she was absent for 12 of 28 board meetings during her tenure.[18]
Views on monetary policy
Shelton is known as a critic of the Federal Reserve.[3][4] She said in 2011 that the Federal Reserve is "almost a rogue agency," and asked whether it could be trusted in having oversight of the dollar.[19] "She has called for a 0% inflation target, contradicting the bank's current 2% target.[20] She has written that a "fundamental question" of economics is "why do we need a central bank?"[21] Shelton has criticized the Federal Reserve's longstanding policy of independence from the White House, saying in 2019 interview that she saw "no reference to independence" in the Fed's authorizing legislation.[22] Shelton describes herself as "highly skeptical" of the Federal Reserve's "nebulous" dual mandate of maximum employment and price stability. [23]
During the Obama years, she criticized the Federal Reserve's low interest rates.[24][25][26] During the Trump presidency, she advocated for the Federal Reserve to adopt lower interest rates as a form of economic stimulus. (Trump frequently criticized the Federal Reserve for not lowering interest rates.)[2][24][27] She supports the Republican Party's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and the Trump administration's deregulative agenda.[4] Before Trump became president, she was a longtime advocate for free trade, but after he became president, she supported his administration's trade war with China.[4][15]
Shelton opposes federal deposit insurance. In her 1994 book "Money Meltdown," she writes that "Eliminating federal deposit insurance would restore the essential character of banking as a vehicle for channeling financial capital into productive investment while striving to meet the risk and timing preference of depositors.[28]
Shelton is a long-time proponent of pegging the value of the dollar to gold.[29] In 2019, she said that she hoped for a new Bretton Woods-style conference where countries would agree to return to the gold standard, saying, "If it takes place at Mar-a-Lago that would be great."[30] Mar-a-Lago is a club run by President Trump.
Shelton supports a highly integrated financial system, including a global common currency and a universal gold reserve bank.[31][32]
Nomination to Federal Reserve
On July 3, 2019, President Donald Trump used his Twitter account to announce his intention to nominate Shelton and a regional Fed official, Christopher Waller, to the Federal Reserve board. His previous nominees, former presidential contender Herman Cain and economic commentator Stephen Moore, had withdrawn for lack of Senate support.[16][33] During the months in which Shelton was being considered for the post by Trump, she was a guest at the Trump International Hotel, Washington, D.C..[16]
During her February 2020 confirmation hearings, both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee expressed concerns about her writings and statements.[34][35][36] On July 21, 2020, a 13-12 vote along party lines advanced Shelton’s nomination to the full Senate.[37]
Personal life
Shelton is married to Gilbert Shelton.[4] The Sheltons had eleven French Charolais cattle, six dogs and peacocks as of 2009.[38] Her husband is a former entrepreneurial banker in Utah, Colorado, and Hawaii who sold his businesses in the early-1980s. They have lived at Moss Neck Manor, a historic antebellum plantation house in Rappahannock Academy, Virginia, since 2005. The property borders Fort A.P. Hill.[38][39]
Bibliography
- Judy Shelton (November 24, 2009). Money Meltdown. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4391-8846-0.
- Judy Shelton (1989). The coming Soviet crash: Gorbachev's desperate pursuit of credit in Western financial markets. "The" Free Press. ISBN 978-0-02-928581-7.[13]
References
- "Fed faces Trump glare ahead of policy shake-up". Financial Times.
- "Trump's potential Fed pick Judy Shelton wants to see lower rates 'as expeditiously as possible'". The Washington Post. 2019.
- GmbH, finanzen net (May 22, 2019). "Trump's potential Fed pick is a critic of the central bank and supports near-zero interest rates | Markets Insider". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
- Smialek, Jeanna (May 21, 2019). "Trump Team Vets Fed Critic for Board Seat". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
- Harrison, Paul Kiernan and David. "Christopher Waller, Judy Shelton Are Trump's Latest Picks for Fed Board". WSJ.
- Long, Heather (November 21, 2019). "Trump's Fed nominee Judy Shelton recently questioned the need for an independent central bank". Washington Post. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- Collins, Peggy (February 3, 2020). "Senate to Hold Hearing for Fed Nominees Shelton, Waller Feb. 13". Bloomberg.
- "Q&A with Judy Shelton | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
- "The Coming Soviet Crash". C-SPAN. February 16, 1989. Retrieved on 3 July 2019.
- "Judy Shelton, Ph.D".
- "Q&A with Judy Shelton". C-SPAN. November 4, 2009. Retrieved on 3 July 2019.
- Packard, Kathleen (January 11, 2012). "Economist and Author Judy Shelton Appointed as Senior Advisor to The Gold Standard Now". PRWeb.
- "This Trump Economic Advisor Wants America to Go Back to the Gold Standard". Fortune.
- Sound Money Project Interview Series: Dr. Judy Shelton (Full Version), retrieved February 4, 2020
- "Trump Fed nominee Judy Shelton once advocated for 'open borders' with Mexico". The Washington Post. 2019.
- Smialek, Jeanna (July 2, 2019). "Trump Taps Two Fed Nominees, One Conventional, the Other Not". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- Smialek, Jeanna (May 21, 2019). "Trump Team Vets Fed Critic for Board Seat". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- Kiernan, Paul (July 25, 2019). "Prospective Fed Nominee Judy Shelton Resigned From EBRD Job". Wall Street Journal.
- Andrew Kaczynski; Em Steck. "Trump's Fed pick Judy Shelton called the central bank 'almost a rogue agency' in 2011". CNN. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- Heeb, Gina (June 8, 2019). "Trump's potential Federal Reserve nominee wants a 0% inflation target". Business Insider. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
- Shelton, Judy (March 27, 2009). "Did the Fed Cause the Housing Crisis". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
- Mohsin, Saleha (November 21, 2019). "Trump's Fed Pick Judy Shelton Cast Doubt on Central Bank Independence". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
- Condon, Christopher (May 30, 2019). "Fed Hopeful Shelton Questions Value of Bank's Dual Mandate". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
- Yglesias, Matthew (June 5, 2019). "Judy Shelton's potential nomination to a Federal Reserve Board seat, explained". Vox. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- Shelton, Judy (May 13, 2015). "Reckoning for the Fed". TheHill. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- Shelton, Judy. "A Trans-Atlantic Revolt Against Central Bankers". WSJ. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- "Trump Taps Economists for Two Key Fed Positions". Time. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- Shelton, Judy (1994). Money Meltdown. Free Press. p. 305.
- Guida, Victoria. "Trump Fed pick's push for gold troubles lawmakers". POLITICO. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
- "Fed candidate slams bank's 'Soviet' power over markets". Financial Times. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
- Shelton, Judy (May 2015). "Gold and Government" (PDF). Cato Institute. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
- Shelton, Judy (July 16, 1999). "Global Markets Need Golden Rule". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
- "The Fed shouldn't be driving US economy, Trump advisor Judy Shelton says". December 7, 2016.
- Timiraos, Nick; Chaney, Sarah (February 14, 2020). "Path to Confirmation Dims for Fed Nominee After Republican Objections". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- Schneider, Howard; Dunsmuir, Lindsay (February 13, 2020). "Trump Fed nominee Shelton hits bipartisan skepticism in Senate hearing". Reuters. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
- "PN1422 — Judy Shelton — Federal Reserve System". Library of Congress. January 28, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- "Senate banking committee approves controversial nominee Judy Shelton for Federal Reserve board". NBC News. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- Freehling, Bill (November 14, 2009). "A worldview as seen from Moss Neck". The Free Lance–Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia: BH Media. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- Sidersky, Robyn (April 12, 2015). "Moss Neck Manor is a hidden gem in Caroline County". The Free Lance–Star. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
External links
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- "Judy Shelton". JSTOR.
- Works by or about Judy Shelton in libraries (WorldCat catalog)