Along with his refusal to concede and provide for an orderly transition to the Biden Administration, neo-fascist demagogue and delusional sociopath Donald "Mango Mussolini" Trump is trying to make it as difficult as he can for them by taking actions to undermine the incoming administration. His dangerous blockade of public health information related to the pandemic, refusal to provide economic relief to state and local governments straining under the pandemic, and his preemptive withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq undermining our allies are some examples. Another is the rushed appointment of an economic quack to the Federal Reserve Board, one Judy Shelton.
Writing in the Washington Post, Catherine Rampell notes that Shelton's economics view are, shall we say, out of the mainstream. Her support of returning to the gold standard is reactionary twaddle right out of the late 1800s:
"Perhaps most objectionable is her multi-decade effort to bring back the gold standard. This might be popular among the right-wing fringe, but it was abandoned worldwide long ago and remains almost unanimously rejected by economists. For good reasons, including that gold prices are volatile. Linking the dollar to gold can also restrict liquidity when the economy needs it most — as happened during the Great Depression." (our emphasis)
Shelton has previously even questioned the existence of the Federal Reserve, the nation's national bank, and has positions on inflation and trade that change whether the administration is Democratic or Republican. In other words, a pure partisan hack who can do damage to monetary policy in this country and world wide.
As Trump becomes more unhinged and enraged at his loss, we can expect him to lash out in his final few weeks through questionable national security decisions, horrendous appointments and generally making more of a mess for President Biden to clean up.
BONUS: We're reading reports that last Thursday Mango Mussolini wanted options for attacking Iran's nuclear facilities, something that would certainly trigger a wide conflict in the Middle East just in time for President-elect Biden's inauguration. He was talked out of it for now, apparently.
UPDATE: The Senate this afternoon blocked Shelton's nomination by a vote of 47 - 50 with a few Republican defections and one quarantining due to COVID exposure (Grassley of Iowa). She may be brought up later in the lame duck session, but it's not looking good for this hack.
