Peter Diamond is good enough at economics to win a Nobel Prize, but not good enough for Richard Shelby to give him a confirmation vote on the Senate floor.
For months now, Sen. Richard Shelby has been blocking the nomination of economist Peter Diamond to join the board of the Federal Reserve. “I do not believe he’s ready to be a member of the Federal Reserve Board,” Shelby said, “I do not believe that the current environment of uncertainty would benefit from monetary policy decisions made by board members who are learning on the job.”
According to Ezra, Shelby’s hung-up about ‘Behavioral Economics.’ I kind of doubt that. I think Shelby’s just being a dick.