ICYMI: Even the Big Banks Think Stephen Moore’s Monetary Policy Ideas Are Too Extreme
WASHINGTON, D.C. — While Stephen Moore himself admits ‘I’m Not an Experton Monetary Policy’, President Trump’s pick to serve on the Fed board certainly has a lot of “terrible” ideas on it. Those ideas were put to the test during Wednesday’s Congressional hearing on ‘Holding Megabanks Accountable’. Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton surveyed the seven banking executives testifying and found zero support for Moore’s beliefs in raising interest rates in times of financial crisis and dismantling the Federal Reserve in favor of the gold standard (an idea also resoundingly panned by economists).
“You know you’re an unserious and unqualified choice for the Fed board when even the institutions that gave us the Great Recession think your ideas for it are untenable,”said Jeremy Funk, spokesman for Allied Progress. “The banks may be back to their old ways taking huge riskswith other people’s money, but apparently Moore’s views are too much of a gamble even for them when it comes to the nation’s monetary policy. The discredited cable news personality with apparent problems keeping his ownmonetary affairs in order is every bit as reckless a choice for the Fed board as Herman Cain. The Senate should reject them both outright if they ever make it that far.”
Previously from Allied Progress:
- Moore Urged Kids to Burn Up Their Social Security Cards in Support of Privatization
- More Moore Thoughts on Social Security: “We’ve probably gone too far in providing a safety net for the elderly”, “Essentially was a Ponzi scheme”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
Trump Federal Reserve Nominee Stephen Moore’s Fringe Views Are So Extreme That Even The CEOs Of The Biggest Banks In The Country Agree They Would Be A Disaster For The Economy.
Trump Federal Reserve Nominee Stephen Moore Believes We Should Return To The Gold Standard, An Abandoned Practice That Based The Value Of The U.S Dollar On Gold Prices.
Stephen Moore Has Advocated For A Return To The Abandoned Gold Standard, “Which Pegs The Value Of The Dollar To Gold Prices,” And Stated In 2015 That It Would Be “‘A Lot Better Than What We Have Now.’”“In the past, Mr. Moore expressed qualified support for a return to the gold standard, which pegs the value of the dollar to gold prices, a practice the United States abandoned in 1971. In an interview in 2015, he agreed with his friend Steve Forbes that a return to such a standard would be ‘a lot better than what we have now.’“ [Jim Tankersley, “Trump Taps Fed Critic Stephen Moore for Board Seat,” The New York Times, 03/22/19]
Moore Called For The Federal Reserve To Raise Interest Rates And Tighten Monetary Policy After The 2008 Financial Crisis.
During The Great Recession, Stephen “Moore Called For Tighter Monetary Policy Because He Feared Hyperinflation From The Fed’s Low Interest Rates At The Time.” “Moore has flip-flopped on his views about the Fed since Trump was elected. When Barack Obama was in office and the country was trying to climb out of the Great Recession, Moore called for tighter monetary policy because he feared hyperinflation from the Fed’s low interest rates at the time.” [Heather Long, “Trump picks close ally Stephen Moore for Fed seat as economy shows signs of weakness,” The Washington Post, 03/22/19]
- In 2008, At A Libertarian Conference In Las Vegas, Stephen Moore Said, “‘I Happen To Believe We Should Be Raising Rates, Not Cutting Them.’“ “Stephen Moore, President Trump’s choice for Federal Reserve governor, called for raising rates and tightening monetary policy even as the economy entered the worst recession since the Great Depression in 2008. ‘I happen to believe we should be raising rates, not cutting them,’ Moore said at a July 2008 appearance at the libertarian FreedomFest in Las Vegas.” [Joseph Lawler, “Trump Fed pick Stephen Moore called for rate hikes as the economy was collapsing in 2008,” Washington Examiner, 03/29/19]
When Questioned By The House Financial Services Committee, The CEOs Of The Largest Banks In The Country Unanimously Disagreed With Moore’s Fringe Views About Returning To The Gold Standard And Raising Interest Rates During The Great Recession.
During An April 2019 House Financial Services Committee Hearing, Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) Asked The CEOs Of Seven Of The Largest U.S. Banks If They Agreed With Stephen Moore’s Controversial Opinions About The Gold Standards And Raising Interest Rates During The Great Recession—And They Unanimously Disagreed. Rep. Wexton: “So Mr. Moore has taken a series of controversial stances about the fed despite acknowledging he still needs to learn more about how the regulator works. He previously said that the Fed should be scrapped in favor of the gold standard. He called on the Fed to hike rates during the great recession because he believed it was necessary to ‘get less dollars out of the economy.’ […] He recently said that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell should be fired for rate hikes, or rate increases, last year that in his opinion diluted the gains from Trump’s tax cuts. So this is just a yes or no question? If we could go down the panel starting with Mr. Corbat, do you think the Fed should be scrapped in favor of the gold standard?[…] Even knowing what you know today and knowing what you knew then, do you think that a better way to deal with the Great Recession, [..] at the onset, would have been to hike rates and constrict dollars in the economy?”The CEOs of Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Bank Of America, State Street, BNY Mellon, and Goldman Sachs unanimously disagreed with both questions posed by Wexton. [“Holding Megabanks Accountable: A Review of Global Systemically Important Banks 10 years after the Financial Crisis,” House Financial Services Committee via YouTube, 04/10/19 (5:19:50)]
- Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman Added, About Raising Rates During The Great Recession, “I Think That Would’ve Been Terrible.”[“Holding Megabanks Accountable: A Review of Global Systemically Important Banks 10 years after the Financial Crisis,” House Financial Services Committee via YouTube, 04/10/19 (5:21:20)]
# # #