Stephen Moore (born February 16, 1960) is an economist and author who serves as a Senior Visiting Fellow in Economics at The Heritage Foundation. Previously, Moore was the Chief Economic Officer of Frax Finance. ^[1][2]

Education

Moore is a graduate of the University of Illinois and holds a master’s degree in Economics from George Mason University. ^[3]

Career

From 1983 to 1987, Stephen Moore served as the Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Budgetary Affairs at The Heritage Foundation. In 1987, Moore was the research director of President Ronald Reagan's Privatization Commission. He spent ten years as a fellow of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. As a senior economist of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee under Chairman Dick Armey of Texas. ^[7]

From 1999 to 2004, Moore served as Founder and President of the Club for Growth, a group advocating tax cuts and a reduction in government spending, along with supporting political candidates who favored free-market economic policies. At the Club for Growth, Moore sought to change the Republican Party, saying in 2003,

"We want to take over the party's fundraising. We want it to be, in 10 years, that no one can win a Senate or a House seat without the support of the Club for Growth." 

From 2003 to 2004, the Club for Growth was the single largest fundraiser for Republican House and Senate candidates, being outdone only by the Republican party itself. ^[3]

After leaving Club for Growth, Moore founded the 501(c)(4) Free Enterprise Fund with other former Club for Growth members including Arthur Laffer and Mallory Factor. In 2005, Moore left the Free Enterprise Fund to serve as the senior economics writer on the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and as a member of the WSJ editorial board. He is a regular contributor to the publication. ^[8]

In May 2015, Moore co-founded the advocacy group Committee to Unleash Prosperity with Laffer, Larry Kudlow, and Steve Forbes. He advised Herman Cain, a former presidential candidate and business executive, on his 9-9-9 Tax Plan for his 2012 presidential campaign. ^[9]

In 2014, The Heritage Foundation announced that Moore would rejoin the think tank as chief economist with his profile on the Heritage website describing him as a "Distinguished Visiting Fellow." ^[10]

In 2017, Moore worked with Larry Kudlow on overhauling the US tax policy for the Trump administration, which was eventually passed into law by Congress. ^[11]

Moore served as a senior economic advisor to President Trump’s 2016 campaign, drafting tax, budget, and energy policy plans. ^[2]

On March 15, 2019, President Donald Trump announced that Moore would be nominated to serve as a governor of the Federal Reserve and help manage the nation's currency. On May 2, 2019, Moore withdrew his name from consideration saying;

"The unrelenting attacks on my character have become untenable for me and my family and 3 more months of this would be too hard on us."^[4]

Frax Finance

Moore co-founded Frax in 2019 with Sam Kazemian and Travis Moore, serving as Frax’s Chief Economic Officer. ^[2][6]

"Around when COVID started, a few people dropped off to pursue other ventures, go back home, or just take some time off. [...] Stephen [...] moved toward a more hands off advisory role for economics and DC outreach (which was further made impractical due to COVID and the world shutting down)" - Sam Kazemian said in an interview. ^[6]

In an interview with Fortune, Moore said his libertarian views led him to support cryptocurrency, which he believes is an important alternative to state-backed money.

"I've followed monetary policy for 30 years and always been troubled by government monopoly on currency, which is unhealthy for markets. It's very healthy for private competitors to challenge central banks over the money supply" - said Moore. ^[2]

Moore also said to the Washington Post:

“I feel like cryptocurrency is like new Internet in terms of challenging the way we do business in America, and how we get information and how we do trades. I just have a fascination with cryptocurrency, I think cryptocurrencies are the next big thing.”^[5]

Achievements

In 2007, Stephen Moore received the Ronald Reagan “Great Communicator” award from the Republican party for his advancement of economic understanding. ^[3]

In 2010, he was awarded the University of Illinois Alumni of the Year. His book “Return to Prosperity: How America Can Regain its Economic Superpower Status” was a finalist for the F.A. Hayek Award for Advancing Economic Understanding. ^[3]

In 2018, Worth Magazine named Stephen Moore one of the 75 Most Influential People in the World Dealing with Economics and Finance. ^[3]