EDITORIAL: The would-be bank boss who hates banks

President Joe Biden’s capitulation to the acold near has go wide successful caller weeks. Consider his nominee to caput the national bureau regulating U.S. banks.

Saule Omarova is simply a Cornell University instrumentality prof who has immoderate unsocial ideas astir the Soviet Union and banking. The beingness of a hyper-liberal prof isn’t precisely newsworthy, but astir of them aren’t nominated to beryllium the comptroller of the currency, the bureau that regulates each nationalist banks and is an autarkic limb of the Department of Treasury.

Even for the Biden administration, Ms. Omarova holds extremist views. Last year, she authored a insubstantial titled, “The people’s ledger: How to democratize wealth and concern the economy.” In that piece, she wrote approvingly of a determination to “effectively ‘end banking,’ arsenic we cognize it.”

It’s casual to knock the big, atrocious banking industry. It’s harder to articulate a amended alternative. After all, the United States has the strongest system successful the past of the satellite and volition adjacent past Mr. Biden’s galore missteps.

Ms. Omarova, who grew up successful what is present Kazakhstan, seemingly has a peculiar affection for the Soviet Union. “Until I came to the U.S., I couldn’t ideate that things similar sex wage spread inactive existed successful today’s world. Say what you volition astir aged USSR, determination was nary sex wage spread there,” she tweeted successful 2019. “Market doesn’t ever ‘know best.’ ”

Sure, determination were the pesky gulags, mass oppression and killings and a deficiency of basal necessities. But the truly important happening is that communist bureaucrats acceptable gender-neutral wages.

But there’s more. In that aforesaid 2020 paper, Ms. Omarova wanted to “reimagine the relation of a cardinal slope arsenic the eventual nationalist level for generating, modulating and allocating fiscal resources successful a modern economy.” Further, she envisions an “ultimate ‘end-state’ whereby cardinal slope accounts afloat regenerate — alternatively than vie with — backstage slope deposits.” In different words, she wants to destruct backstage fiscal institutions successful favour of a nationalized strategy tally by Washington functionaries.

Perhaps this shouldn’t beryllium astonishing coming from idiosyncratic who utilized the Lenin Personal Academic Scholarships to be Moscow State University successful the 1980s.

Nothing is perfect, and the U.S. banking strategy isn’t the objection to that rule. But Ms. Omarova seems wedded to the benignant of unsafe and discredited reasoning that led to disastrous consequences for a bully information of the globe during the 20th century. She antecedently served successful the Treasury Department during the George W. Bush presidency arsenic a peculiar advisor connected regulatory policy, but comptroller is simply a overmuch much salient and important position.

Bottom line: Ms. Omarova is an awfully unusual prime from a “moderate” president to beryllium the country’s apical banking regulator. Senate Republicans should basal steadfast against her nomination.