From Bloomberg News

President Donald Trump said Herman Cain, the former pizza company executive who ran for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, is being vetted for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board.

Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that Cain is in “good shape.” Cain would fill one of two open seats on the board; the president plans to name Stephen Moore, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a long-time Trump supporter, for the other.

This is a great pick by the President. Herman Cain has the chops. While working on his Masters degree in computer Science, he also worked full time for the Department of the Navy as a ballistics analyst. After a stint at Coca Cola, Cain ended up as a Regional Director for Burger King, managing 400 locations, greatly improving profits at those stores. His success at Burger King led Pillsbury to appoint him CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, then undergoing some issues Again, Cain turned the operation around. In 1992 He was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Fed, ultimately serving as Chairman from 1994-1996.

Of course, not everything comes up roses. Mr Cain and President Trump disagree on interest rates. My fellow Red Stater Joe Cunningham will address this particular issue in detail. Also some Cain detractors seem to be concerned that he isn’t a degreed economist. I had an interesting conversation about that with a friend of mine, who put it better than I could. In Tim’s words,

Do I care that Herman Cain isn’t a Ph.D. economist? Yes, I care very much…in his favor. The Federal Reserve has more than 225 Ph.D. staff economists in its employ, probably more than any other institution in America.

It is not surprising to see the profession falling into groupthink behind the biggest collection of these people on the planet.

One other thing, it’s not just about not being an academic. It’s also about being an entrepreneur and especially an entrepreneur in an industry that serves consumers directly and with razor thin margins. When inflation breaks into our system restaurateurs feel it earlier than the rest of us.

When an economic slowdown hits, restaurateurs feel it earlier than the rest of us. When restaurateurs are hit with mandated minimum wage hikes, they get hit hard and their employees and businesses suffer. Herman Cain directly challenged Hillary Clinton in 1993 at a Town Hall meeting about her health care plan and slam dunked her when he was CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. Prior to that, he was a regional manager of 400 Burger King restaurants in the Philly-NJ area and increased their profits by 300%. Herman Cain has real world experience that will bring a different perspective to the Federal Reserve.

Herman Cain is just who we need at the Fed. I hope he survives the inevitable Leftist onslaught during the Advise & Consent process.

Mike Ford is a retired Infantry Officer who writes on Military, Foreign Affairs and occasionally dabbles in Political and Economic matters.

Follow him on Twitter: @MikeFor10394583

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