WASHINGTON–President Trump has nominated a long-time critic of the Federal Reserve to serve on that institution’s board of governors.
Marvin Goodfriend, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University who has been critical of the Federal Reserve’s actions since the 2008 financial crisis, would join the Federal Reserve if his nomination is approved. Goodfriend has been a strong proponent of having the Fed focus on controlling inflation by using a minimalist set of tools.
Goodfriend, 67, worked for 20 years as
an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, including serving as chief monetary policy adviser. He left the bank in 2005 to join the faculty at Carnegie Mellon.
The New York Times reported that in a 2011 interview, Goodfriend said the Fed should “commit to making low inflation your priority. That will yield the lowest unemployment rate on average over time and the lowest inflation rate.”
In March, he warned that the Fed’s benchmark interest rate was “too low,” the Times reported. “He has endorsed legislation proposed by House Republicans that would require the Fed to articulate a policy rule — a mathematical approach to determining the level of interest rates — with the goal of limiting the role of human judgment in monetary policy,” the Times added.
Goodfriend has also been critical of the Fed’s asset purchases in the wake of the financial crisis.
Goodfriend’s nomination comes as the Fed’s leadership is changing. Jerome F. Powell is awaiting a vote on his nomination to become the next Fed Chair. Two other top officials are also being replaced.