President Donald Trump’s reshaping of the Federal Reserve continued this week when he nominated economist Marvin Goodfriend to serve on the Fed’s board of governors.
Trump already has Randal Quarles in place as a Fed governor and as the Fed’s vice chairman of supervision, a position considered to be one of the most powerful in banking.
And Trump’s choice to lead the Fed, Jerome Powell, is moving through the Senate confirmation process now. If approved, Powell would replace Janet Yellen as the Fed chair.
Now, Trump wants to add Goodfriend, currently a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, as a Fed governor.
Goodfriend would replace Sarah Bloom Raskin, who resigned in 2014.
According to Goodfriend’s bio provided by the White House, Goodfriend worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond from 1978 to 2005, including serving as director of research and policy advisor from 1993-2005.
He also served as visiting economist at the Federal Reserve Board in 1982 and 1983, and senior staff economist for President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisors from 1984 to 1985.
As Bloomberg notes, Goodfriend has also served on an independent panel of economists known as the “Shadow Open Market Committee,” which helps provide alternative views on monetary policy.
Bloomberg also provides a little background on Goodfriend’s views on monetary policy.
From Bloomberg:
“Marvin is a true monetary policy scholar and will be a significant contributor to the team at the Fed,” said Mickey Levy, chief economist for the Americas and Asia at Berenberg Capital Markets LLC in New York and another member of the Shadow Open Market Committee.
Goodfriend, however, is no knee-jerk inflation hawk. He has argued the Fed should be as vigilant in guarding against deflation as it is in combating excessive inflation.
“There have been times when he said the Fed should tighten,” Levy said of Goodfriend. “And right now I think you would find him saying, no, you should go slow because the Fed has been shy of its 2 percent target” on inflation.
In a March interview on Bloomberg Radio, Goodfriend described himself as “someone who believes in stability of the price level.”
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, praised Trump’s nomination of Goodfriend.
“I commend President Trump for this nomination. Dr. Marvin Goodfriend is a highly respected researcher on monetary- and macroeconomics and an impeccable conservative,” Hensarling said. “He understands that consulting monetary policy rules can provide both instructive guidance for the Fed and transparency for the public. Dr. Goodfriend also appreciates that credit policy is Congress’s responsibility – not the Fed’s.”
If confirmed, Goodfriend would serve the remainder of a 14-year term as a Fed governor, through Jan. 31, 2030.
