Judy Shelton @ Treasury

From Bloomberg: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent named Judy Shelton, a former nominee to the Federal Reserve board and a onetime gold-standard enthusiast, as an adviser to counsel him on issues including China’s financial system. Press release here. Even in these surprising times, I am surprised by this appointment. Dr. Shelton has opined on wage rigidity, on the Soviet economy, on the veracity of government GDP statistics, on currency manipulation, crypto, and gold. But on China’s financial system? in texas, the state is currently run by the the Boss Hogg Republican Party. their behavior is jarringly similar. at the federal level, the country is run by Thanos. you know, the evil titan who wants to wipe out half of all life in the universe as an experiment to cleanse it of its ills. that is essentially the MO of the trump administration. kill most of modern society and start over in his image. shelton makes sense under this comparison. Along with the proposal for the public execution I’m getting pretty numb to surprises from the Trump regime. Fortunately, our staunch ally, Vladimir Putin, will flood us with cheap diesel fuel in time for the midterm elections. Maybe Shelton can help Bessent finally bring the bond market to heel. Perhaps every patriotic American can start mining for gold in their back yard. Putin will sell about 500,000 tons of diesel to the world market in November – that is about what the US alone use in one day. He will first have to cancel his own ban on export of diesel fuel. No extra fuel will be exported out of Russia as a result of Trumps idiotic surrender (in return for nothing). However, it will be a great propaganda tool for Putin and his Orange sock puppet – as they can claim that Ukraines attack on Russian refineries are preventing diesel from arriving in US (and causing higher prices at the pump). Treasury is running low on senior people right now: https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/bessent-treasury-tension-turnover-unmet-economic-goals-b552be0a So are DOD and State, but that’s more or less by choice. Shelton has no real experience as a China analyst. I know, I know, knowledge is overrated. Her role is as a currency advisor with a special focus on China. Bloomberg’s first paragraph misses that important point. China is always highlighted in Treasury’s FX-manipulators report, so naturally China is mentioned, but Treasury under Bessent has been active mostly elsewhere. Argentina and Japan have both come in for Treasury fX intervention under Bessent. Shelton fancies herself an expert on international economics, but she is in fact mostly a “policy entrepreneur”, adjusting her policy recommendations depending on who is in power. Shelton is often said to be an economist, but her degrees are in business, not economics, and even some Republican Senators refused to confirm her to the Fed because of her weird economic notions. I suspect Shelton has been named not because Bessent values her advice, but because she is a favorite of the felon-in-chief. He has nominated her for all kinds of jobs. Bessent knows enough about economics to know she’s a quack, but probably doesn’t care. The important question is whether she is allowed influence. I predict that Bessent will end up working for the Trump boys after this gig is over, maybe directly, maybe as an outside partner in crime. Gotta get paid.