In the wake of the SCOTUS decision regarding deference to Chevron, I am studying this issue. Here is a summary of the academic research on the Supreme Court’s opinions on these topics, independent of whether fiat currency as currently established in the United States is unconstitutional (e.g., see here). I also postpone the discussion on whether the The Federal Reserve is constitutional.
- On price stability: (total zero)
- On full employment: (total zero)
However, we can infer from recent experience that the Supreme Court, as currently constituted, will carefully determine the appropriate definitions of price stability and full employment, as illustrated by Justice Gorsuch’s keen understanding of the financial regulatory framework in noting the role of the Security and Exchange Commission and the environmental implications of pollutants, including nitrous oxide. (Forbes).
Given that Justice Gorsuch has declared himself (as have others) to be a textualist, it seems to me that if he were to be consistent in his decisions, he would affirm that price stability and full employment require:
for all periods, where p is probably the CPI, and You is the civilian unemployment rate. The current unemployment rate is 4.0%. It should not be too difficult for the Supreme Court to determine how to obtain You=0 and the first time derivative of p equal to 0 simultaneously.
For more details on Justice Gorsuch’s views on the degree of deference to be afforded to administrative agencies, see here.
