The gold standard, near-zero interest rates, less central bank independence: Trump's latest Fed pick backs unusual economic policies

Shelton has questioned the accuracy of economic data, saying in 2015 that she doesn't "trust the statistics on GDP growth or on inflation." Last year, she told The Washington Post she was still skeptical of whether the statistics captured technological innovation correctly.

Shelton began to advocate for drastically lower interest rates around the same time that Trump took office, a sharp reversal from her position in the years following the Great Recession. As recently as 2016, she criticized low interest rates for flooding "wealthy investors and corporate borrowers with cheap money, while savers with ordinary bank accounts have been obliged to accept next-to-nothing returns."

More recently, she has called for eliminating interest on excess reserves — or extra money that banks store at the Fed — because it incentivizes holding funds over lending them. Her current support for near-zero interest rates has almost certainly curried favor with Trump, who has repeatedly demanded the central bank take steps to juice the economy.

Shelton has advocated for a return to a system like the gold standard, a now-fringe economic policy that pegged the dollar to the yellow metal.

Proponents argue the gold standard prevents overly loose monetary policy. But it is widely dismissed by mainstream economists, who say it is highly impractical in the current financial system and that it would tie the hands of policymakers in the event of a recession.

Experts say a central bank needs to operate independent from political influence to maintain a healthy economy and financial markets. But Shelton has said the Fed should "pursue a more coordinated relationship with both Congress and the president" in order to reach economic goals, such as a smaller trade deficit.

Pressed on whether the central bank was an independent institution, Shelton told Business Insider in June that it would be "superficial" to answer yes or no. She pointed to administrative operations between the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, calling the agencies "fiscally incestuous."