ICYMI: Washington Post Editorial Board: Republicans Keep Attacking a Highly Qualified Black Female Fed Nominee

The Washington Post Editorial Board just sent a clear message: Dr. Lisa Cook is an exceptionally qualified nominee that should be quickly confirmed to the Federal Reserve Board, and Republican attacks to the contrary are baseless.

Read more below:

Washington Post: Opinion: Republicans keep attacking a highly qualified Black female Fed nominee
[Washington Post Editorial Board, 2/10/22]

Economist Lisa D. Cook is a leader in her field. She has a PhD in economics from the University of California at Berkeley and is a tenured professor of economics at Michigan State University. She served as a senior adviser to the Treasury Department under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. She played a major role in managing the euro-zone debt crisis when she served on President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers. She's currently a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and on the executive committee of the American Economic Association.

This extensive experience — in academia and in crisis situations — is why President Biden nominated her to be on the Federal Reserve Board. And it's why many prominent economists, including former Fed chair Ben Bernanke (appointed by Mr. Bush), strongly support her.

Yet Republicans keep attacking her. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) called her "fundamentally not qualified," and Fox News host Tucker Carlson went as far as to judge her "economically illiterate" and "unqualified to teach junior college econ 101."

It's not unusual to see Republicans go after one of Mr. Biden's nominees, but the level of vitriol directed at Ms. Cook is noteworthy.

Did we mention that Ms. Cook would be the first Black woman ever on the Fed's board?

There appears to be a pattern here. When Mr. Biden recently reaffirmed his campaign pledge to nominate a qualified Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) reportedly said he was concerned the nominee wouldn't know "a law book from a J. Crew catalog." And Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said, "Black women are, what, 6 percent of the U.S. population? [Biden's] saying to 94 percent of Americans, 'I don't give a damn about you.' "

In the case of Ms. Cook, some Republicans have claimed she knows little about the Fed and macroeconomics. That could not be further from the truth. She is an expert on financial crises, developing countries and the role patents and innovation play in growth.

She made it clear at her confirmation hearing that she would prioritize fighting the current inflation problem. She described seeing the devastating impact of high inflation firsthand in developing nations. Last June, she told The Post she was already concerned about how inflation would impact retirees, among others.

Some Republicans have zeroed in on her research on long-standing racial disparities in the economy, which they characterize as unrelated to the macroeconomy. That criticism reveals their own ignorance. The fact that some Americans are not able to reach their full potential, even today, because of discrimination and other barriers harms the economy. One of those who encouraged Ms. Cook to keep studying this interrelationship was Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman, the avatar of free-market economics.

Another GOP gripe is that Ms. Cook voiced support this past year for a bill in Congress that would form a commission to study the possibility of reparations to African Americans. Note that she was advocating more research. And Congress, not the Fed, will decide these issues.

We reiterate our support for Ms. Cook. She's qualified and brings much-needed expertise on hyperinflation and inequality. The Senate should approve her soon.