Image by Getty Images via @daylifeDiamond's initial nomination fizzled when the Senate adjourned in December without acting on it. When Obama resubmitted the nomination in January to the newly convened Senate, the Republicans held six additional seats. That was expected to make the confirmation process more difficult.
Senate Republicans blocked a floor vote on Diamond's confirmation and have questioned his practical experience and research. The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, Richard Shelby, has criticized Diamond, saying he lacks monetary policy experience. Diamond is considered an authority on Social Security, pensions and taxation. He shared the Nobel Prize in economics that was awarded in October, with Diamond saying that his portion of the prize was for his work on unemployment and the labor market.
In the op-ed piece, Diamond took aim at Washington's "partisan polarization" and said that there was "a failure to recognize that the analysis of unemployment is crucial to conducting monetary policy."
I often wonder why anyone would even go through the confirmation process when partisan politics far outweigh the welfare of the country.
Diamond said he would continue as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and would take advantage of opportunities presented to a Nobel laureate.
"I had hoped to bring some of my own expertise and experience to the Fed. Now I hope someone else can," he said.
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