CNN host presses Trump Fed pick over shifting support for gold standard

CNN anchor Erin Burnett on Thursday pressed Stephen Moore, President Trump’s pick for the Federal Reserve Board, on his apparently shifting support for the gold standard. 

Trump has expressed admiration for the gold standard, in which the value of a currency is defined in terms of gold.

Asked about it by Burnett, Moore said, “I don’t think I’ve ever really said anything much about the gold [standard].”

“I’m not in favor of gold standard. I’m in favor of using commodities as a forward-looking indicator for what prices are,” he continued.

“So, I want to play something for you,” Burnett said before proceeding to play three clips from 2010 to 2016 in which Moore said he was in support of a gold standard.

Stephen Moore: “I don’t really think I’ve said anything much about the gold – I’m not in favor of a gold standard.”

Erin Burnett then plays three clips of Stephen Moore saying he supports a gold standard. pic.twitter.com/az4bm0zmoa

— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) April 11, 2019

“Let me respond to that,” Moore said after the montage of clips. “I think that a gold standard will certainly be better than what we have right now. But I think there’s a much better system that we could put in place that could not just look at gold but all commodities.”

“I think they’re a very good forward-looking indicator for where prices are going,” Moore continued.

{mosads}“So, you’ve changed your mind?” Burnett asked.

“I think a gold standard would probably be overly restrictive. But, what I am in favor of is looking at a whole basket of commodities, you know, 30 commodities, to see what’s happening with the prices,” Moore said. 

“I’m in favor of a rule over a discretionary policy,” Moore said, adding that he’s in “favor of a stable dollar.”