WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump plans to nominate Judy Shelton and Christopher Waller to join the Federal Reserve, the White House said on Thursday.
The president, who has publicly criticized Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues for not cutting interest rates as aggressively as he would like, tapped the pair in July for the two remaining vacancies on the central bank's seven-seat board in Washington.
The two economists have widely different background, but their policy comments suggest they'd be inclined to be open to Trump's calls for easier monetary policy.
Shelton, who has been an informal adviser to Trump, has publicly said the central bank should reduce rates. She's spent decades outside mainstream economics and recently appears to have completed a metamorphosis from proponent of returning to the gold standard _ a concept broadly espoused by those who feel monetary policy is too lax _ to an advocate of the need for more stimulus.
She has a doctorate in business administration from the University of Utah with an emphasis on finance and international economics.
Waller is largely a conventional choice because he's drawn from within the Fed's own ranks.
He is a Ph.D. economist who previously served as a professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame before joining the St. Louis Fed in 2009, where he is director of research. Waller has been consistent in his calls for a more dovish approach over the years. His key research focus has been on monetary and macroeconomic theory and the political economy.
