The Censor, the Bureaucrat and the Fed Economist

Were our government elected only by academicians and federal employees, Republicans would win no elections 

Letters to The WSJ.

"Emre Kuvvet’s study, which found a 10-1 ratio of Democratic to Republican economists at the Fed, should surprise no one (“How Politicized Is the Federal Reserve?” op-ed, March 8). The same lopsided ratio is the case for most federal bureaucracies.

I consulted with government economists for nearly a decade while working for a research institute. In my experience, our federal bureaucracies are a faithful political reflection of academia. Were our federal government elected only by academicians and federal employees, Republicans would win no elections.

Prof. David L. Kendall

University of Virginia’s College at Wise

Faced with complaints of liberal bias in censoring posts and accounts, social-media execs say, “The algorithm did it!” But the execs hired the algorithm writers, whose presumptions, input words and weights determine how the algorithm performs.

Similarly, outcomes of Fed economic models are likely determined by the economic philosophy of the creators. Is it not time for some diversity among Fed economists?

Duane Acker

Atlantic, Iowa

Mr. Acker was a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (1980-86)."