Trump's Fed pick admits he has no clue what his new job is or how to do it

Trump’s pick to sit on the vitally important Federal Reserve says he doesn’t understand what the job is.

“I’m kind of new to this game, frankly, so I’m going to be on a steep learning curve myself about how the Fed operates, how the Federal Reserve makes its decisions.” Stephen Moore told Bloomberg on Friday.

“It’s hard for me to say even what my role will be there, assuming I get confirmed,” he added.

This is a man who Trump wants to exert a major influence over economic policy that will affect the lives of billions around the world.

Moore is a cable news regular best known for spouting crackpot economic theories. He is a fellow at the right-wing Heritage Foundation and founded the Club for Growth, which incessantly advocates for lower taxes for the uber-wealthy.

Even in the world of conservative economics, which is extremely tolerant of poor economic ideas, his nomination to the Federal Reserve is being questioned and opposed.

“He does not have the intellectual gravitas for this important job,” said Greg Mankiw, who served as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under George W. Bush. “It is time for senators to do their job. Mr. Moore should not be confirmed.”

Economists have blasted the nomination, the latest in Trump’s seemingly never-ending parade of picks for key positions based on his television-watching habits.

“Detestable” is how Neil Dutta, head of economics at Renaissance Macro Research, described the Moore nomination to Bloomberg. Dutta pointed out that in 2011 Republicans opposed President Barack Obama’s nomination of Nobel Prize-winning economist Peter Diamond, but now a crank like Moore “has a plausible path to confirmation.”

Moore has pushed ideas like calling unemployment insurance “paid vacation,” among his wackier ideas and comments. In the recent past he whined about a “hate-the-rich mentality” and described the Democratic Party as “the party of greed and envy” because they favor economic policies that support the middle class.

Like Trump he also harbors racist attitudes, lamenting in December about children in “inner city” schools who are “beaten up by other black students.”

In Moore, Trump picked someone who appeared before him on television, spouting nonsense and absurdities. Even his fellow conservatives consider him a ridiculous choice and even Moore admits he doesn’t know what the job even entails.

In so many ways, he is the perfect pick for Trump’s disastrous approach to everything.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.