Brainard Gone, Now What?
The Wall Street Journal reports Lael Brainard’s Fed Departure Could Leave Immediate Imprint on Inflation Fight
Ms. Brainard’s move to lead Mr. Biden’s National Economic Council means the Fed will lose an influential top official who has advocated for a marginally less aggressive approach to raising interest rates than Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
While she has publicly backed Mr. Powell in rapidly raising rates over the past year to fight inflation by slowing the economy, Ms. Brainard has at times emphasized different considerations in setting policy, including the risks of lifting rates more than necessary.
She had become one of the Fed’s most persuasive policy “doves,” officials who think high inflation is likely to slow as lingering effects of the pandemic reverse and who want to minimize potential job losses. By contrast, the central bank’s “hawks” more readily embrace stiffer measures to curb inflation.
At the margins, Ms. Brainard’s Fed exit raises the risk of a recession because it could lead the central bank to raise rates more aggressively this spring, said Derek Tang, an economist at the forecasting firm LH Meyer.
“Who is Going to Take on that Mantle?”
It would have taken a lot of effort to write something worse than that fluff analysis.
Sure, Brainard is terrible, but nothing stops Biden from nominating someone even worse.
Which is precisely what I expect.
Powell Replay
To go one further, Elizabeth Warren is highly likely to have a hand in picking the nominee.
This is a replay of the the setup I discussed on December 28, 2021 in Elizabeth Warren May as Well Be President, She Makes All Biden’s Calls
My post was about a WSJ article that was spot on.
President Biden is considering Sarah Bloom Raskin for a top role at the Federal Reserve as part of a slate of three nominees for central bank board seats, according to people familiar with the matter.
Ms. Raskin’s nomination could mollify progressive Democrats, some of whom opposed Mr. Biden’s decision in November to offer a second term to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, a Republican first chosen for the top job by former President Trump.
Mr. Biden is also considering two economists for other Fed board seats that will soon be vacant: Lisa Cook, a professor of economics and international relations at Michigan State University; and Philip Jefferson, a professor and administrator at Davidson College in North Carolina.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) has signaled to the White House she would support either Ms. Raskin or Richard Cordray, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s first confirmed director, who also has been under consideration for the Fed’s banking-regulator post.
The potential nominations of Ms. Cook and Mr. Jefferson, both Black economists, would help Mr. Biden achieve his promise to improve diversity atop the central bank, which in its 108-year history has had only three Black board members, all of them men. The most recent was former Fed Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson, who left the board in 2006.
Ms. Cook expressed support for programs in Mr. Biden’s economic agenda during a recent Fed conference on gender and the economy. Asked on a Nov. 8 panel to identify three policies that would be most impactful in addressing discrimination and lack of opportunity, Ms. Cook cited child-care and elder-care support, paid family leave and infrastructure.
Also recall Biden’s Bank Regulatory Nominee Espouses Helicopter Money and Praises the Old USSR
Joe Biden’s nominee for the Comptroller of the Currency Saule Omarova on oil, coal and gas industries: “We want them to go bankrupt if we want to tackle climate change.”
“Say what you will about old USSR, there was no gender pay gap there.“
Mercy!
Please consider The People’s Ledger by Saule Omarova : How to Democratize Money and Finance the Economy
Click on the link and Download the report. It’s a doozie. She proposes ending banks and giving everyone a direct account at the Fed.
I am convinced Warren was behind the nomination of Omarova.
Warren Will Push Hard for These Marxists
It is a given that Warren will push for someone on the Fed who is both a Marxist and a climate-change clown.
Unfortunately, there is a very good chance the nominee is approved this time because Democrats control the Senate with a vote to spare. If there is a single defection, Kamala Harris will cast the tiebreaking vote.
That means the very best we can hope for is someone who is equally bad as Brainard.
This post originated at MishTalk.Com
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Mish
Just carrying on from the prior admin. Will Hunter get 2 billion from the Saudis like Jared?