Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Former Cato Head Met With Trump; May Get Top Econ Post

John Allison, the former head of the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, had a meeting with Donald Trump this week and it is rumored that he may get a top slot in a Trump Administration.  Here is more from the Wall Street Journal:
The 68-year-old North Carolina native [John Allison] met Monday with President-elect Donald Trump. In an interview Tuesday, Mr. Allison said he spent an hour to 90 minutes with Mr. Trump and others, including Vice President-elect Mike Pence and chief strategist Stephen Bannon.
Mr. Allison said they discussed the financial arena and the Federal Reserve. He added that the talks touched on “possibilities” for roles in the new administration, but he emphasized that nothing had been offered and he would have to know more about any potential role before deciding whether he could accept a position.
Until recently the CEO of libertarian think tank Cato Institute, Mr. Allison is a frequent quoter of Aristotle and a devoted fan of author Ayn Rand, who argued for minimal government and self-interest. As chief executive of BB&T Corp., he distributed copies of Ms. Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” to senior officers and influenced BB&T’s charitable arm to fund classes about the moral foundations of capitalism at a number of colleges.

Mr. Allison retired from Cato after just two and a half years as the think tank's head.  Here is a previous Think Tank Watch piece on how Mr. Allison came to power at Cato.

Other think tankers are reportedly being considered for top Cabinet posts in a Trump Administration, including Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) head Richard Haass and American Enterprise Institute (AEI) John Bolton who are both possible picks for Secretary of State.