Shelton Says Yes to Zero
Return to Gold Standard
In addition to wanting 0% rates, Shelton seeks a return to the gold standard and has written that central banks ‘are the world’s biggest currency manipulators’
Her Own Words
Please consider Judy Shelton in Her Own Words[1].
Monetary Policy
Ms. Shelton argues that central banks’ interest-rate moves cause economic disruptions by manipulating currencies in ways that affect global trade.
Curiously, she must think that 0% rates do not cause economic disruptions.
When asked in a recent interview with the Journal’s opinion page whether the Fed should cut interest rates now, she said, “The answer is yes,” a view that aligns with Mr. Trump’s recent public comments. She said, “When you have an economy primed to grow because of reduced taxes, less regulation, dynamic energy and trade reforms, you want to ensure maximum access to capital.
Monetary Stimulus
Ms. Shelton opposed the Fed’s efforts to stimulate the economy in the aftermath of the recession, arguing that the central bank’s low interest rates and asset purchases enriched the wealthy while putting everybody else at risk of a sharp increase in inflation or a new asset bubble. “It is ironic that concern for wage earners serves to justify money pumping by the Fed that ends up largely benefiting people who have hefty stock-market portfolios, especially at a time when “income inequality” is a major White House theme,” she wrote in a 2014 Journal opinion article[2] published after then-Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen had addressed Congress. “Perhaps one of our elected representatives on Capitol Hill can explain to Ms. Yellen that when the low-grade fever of perpetual inflation becomes a...