# Stephen Moore **Stephen Moore** (b. 1960) is the **supply-side propagandist** — the conservative economist-pundit who has cycled through every major node of the right-wing economic infrastructure ([[Heritage Foundation]], [[Club for Growth]], [[Cato Institute]], [[Wall Street Journal]] editorial board, the Trump campaign) and who embodies the movement's conversion of economic theory into political operation. Moore co-founded the [[Club for Growth]] — the most aggressive anti-tax political organization in the Republican ecosystem — served on the [[Wall Street Journal]] editorial board as its supply-side voice, returned to the [[Heritage Foundation]] as its chief economist, and served as [[Donald Trump]]'s senior economic advisor during the 2016 campaign, helping write the tax plan that became the [[Tax Cuts and Jobs Act]]. In 2019, Trump nominated Moore to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The nomination was withdrawn after bipartisan opposition, including from Republican senators, over Moore's disparaging writings about women and his thin credentials for monetary policy — making Moore the rare figure rejected even by a [[Republican Party]] that had confirmed dozens of Trump's other controversial nominees. For the Right Wing KB, Moore is the **operational link** between supply-side theory and supply-side politics. Where [[Art Laffer]] draws the curve, [[Larry Kudlow]] reads the teleprompter, and [[Kevin Hassett]] runs the regressions, Moore builds the political organizations, vets the candidates, and enforces anti-tax orthodoxy through the [[Club for Growth]]'s primary challenges against any Republican who votes for tax increases. ## Background Stephen Moore was born on **February 16, 1960** in **Chicago, Illinois**. He grew up in the affluent North Shore suburb of Winnetka, attending New Trier High School. He earned his B.A. from the University of Illinois and an M.A. in economics from George Mason University — the institution that houses the [[Mercatus Center]] and the Center for Study of Public Choice, making Moore a product of the [[James M. Buchanan]] / [[Charles Koch]]-funded institutional pipeline. ## Career: The Full Tour of Supply-Side Infrastructure Moore's career is a circuit diagram of the conservative economic infrastructure: ### Heritage Foundation (1983–1987) Moore began at the [[Heritage Foundation]] as the Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Budgetary Affairs — a position focused on producing Heritage's fiscal-policy advocacy. In 1987, he served as research director of President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s Privatization Commission, working on the agenda to transfer government functions to the private sector. ### Cato Institute (1990s) Moore spent a decade as a fellow at the [[Cato Institute]], the Koch-founded libertarian think tank, where he focused on tax and budget policy. ### Club for Growth (1999–2004) Moore's most consequential institutional creation. He **founded the [[Club for Growth]]** in 1999 and served as its president until 2004. The Club became the most aggressive anti-tax enforcement mechanism in the [[Republican Party]] — a political action committee and super PAC that raises money to support supply-side candidates in Republican primaries and to challenge (via primary opponents) any Republican incumbent who votes for tax increases or deviates from anti-tax orthodoxy. The [[Club for Growth]] operates as the electoral enforcement arm of the [[Grover Norquist]] / [[Americans for Tax Reform]] no-tax-increase pledge. Where Norquist extracts the pledge, the Club for Growth provides the consequences: millions of dollars in primary spending against Republicans who break it. The organization Moore built has spent hundreds of millions of dollars shaping the ideological composition of the Republican congressional caucus, ensuring that anti-tax orthodoxy is not just a policy preference but a condition of political survival. ### Wall Street Journal (2005–) Moore joined the [[Wall Street Journal]] editorial board as senior economics writer in 2005. The Journal's editorial page — distinct from its news operation — is the premier media platform for supply-side advocacy, and Moore's position gave him a daily megaphone for promoting tax cuts, deregulation, and skepticism of government spending. His columns and editorials provided the journalistic translation of [[Heritage Foundation]] and [[Cato Institute]] policy papers into op-ed arguments. ### Heritage Foundation Redux (2014–present) In 2014, Moore returned to the [[Heritage Foundation]] as its chief economist (later distinguished fellow in economics). The appointment coincided with Heritage's rightward shift under president Jim DeMint, who transformed the organization from a policy think tank into a more aggressive political operation — a shift that would produce [[Project 2025]]. ## Trump Campaign and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Moore served as **senior economic advisor** to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, helping develop the tax plan that became the template for the [[Tax Cuts and Jobs Act]] of 2017. Working alongside [[Larry Kudlow]], [[Art Laffer]], and [[Kevin Hassett]], Moore helped shape the legislation's core provisions: the reduction of the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, individual rate reductions, and the doubling of the standard deduction. Moore and [[Art Laffer]] co-authored *Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy* (2018), arguing that the [[Tax Cuts and Jobs Act]] would generate sustained 3%+ GDP growth. The promised growth did not materialize at that level. ## The Failed Fed Nomination (2019) In March 2019, [[Donald Trump]] announced his intention to nominate Moore to the [[Federal Reserve]] Board of Governors. The nomination immediately drew opposition — not just from Democrats but from Republican senators — on multiple grounds: **Credentials.** Moore holds an M.A. in economics, not a Ph.D., and had no experience in monetary policy. His career was in advocacy, not in the kind of empirical or theoretical work expected of Fed governors. **Past writings.** Research into Moore's past columns revealed disparaging comments about women, including a column arguing that women should be banned from officiating men's college basketball games. Multiple Republican senators expressed discomfort. **Intellectual consistency.** Moore had advocated for tighter monetary policy under [[Barack Obama]] and looser monetary policy under Trump — suggesting his monetary views were partisan rather than analytical. Moore withdrew from consideration in May 2019. The failed nomination is significant because it illustrates the limits of the supply-side pundit-to-policymaker pipeline: the same credentials that qualify someone for the [[Heritage Foundation]], [[Club for Growth]], and the [[Wall Street Journal]] editorial board are insufficient for institutions (like the Fed) that maintain academic standards. ## KB Significance **1. The enforcement mechanism.** The [[Club for Growth]], Moore's most consequential creation, is the supply-side movement's electoral enforcement arm. By funding primary challenges against tax-raising Republicans, the Club ensures that anti-tax orthodoxy is hardwired into the [[Republican Party]]'s congressional caucus. This is the mechanism by which [[Supply-Side Economics]] went from a debatable theory to an enforceable party line. **2. The full-spectrum operative.** Moore's career touches every node of the supply-side infrastructure: [[Heritage Foundation]] (policy production), [[Cato Institute]] (libertarian theory), [[Club for Growth]] (electoral enforcement), [[Wall Street Journal]] (media dissemination), and the Trump campaign/administration (policy implementation). No other figure has occupied all five nodes, making Moore the most complete map of how the supply-side ecosystem works as an integrated system. **3. The credibility gap.** The failed Fed nomination reveals the difference between advocacy credentials and analytical credentials. Moore's career demonstrates that the supply-side infrastructure rewards message discipline, not empirical rigor — and that the same qualities that make someone effective at the [[Heritage Foundation]] make them unqualified for institutions that require analytical independence. **4. The Norquist-Moore axis.** Moore ([[Club for Growth]] founder) and [[Grover Norquist]] ([[Americans for Tax Reform]] president) constitute a two-pronged enforcement system: Norquist extracts the no-tax-increase pledge, and Moore's Club for Growth funds the primary challengers who punish violators. Together they have enforced supply-side orthodoxy on the [[Republican Party]] for a quarter century. **5. The Heritage → Project 2025 trajectory.** Moore's return to the [[Heritage Foundation]] in 2014 coincided with its transformation into a more aggressive political operation — the trajectory that produced [[Project 2025]]. Moore's role as Heritage's chief economist during this period means his supply-side framework is embedded in the organizational DNA of the Project 2025 agenda. ## See Also - [[Club for Growth]] — Moore's most consequential institutional creation - [[Heritage Foundation]] — Moore's institutional home (twice) - [[Cato Institute]] — Moore's libertarian-theory affiliation - [[Wall Street Journal]] — Moore's media platform - [[Supply-Side Economics]] — the doctrine Moore has promoted across every institution - [[Tax Cuts and Jobs Act]] — the legislation Moore helped design - [[Donald Trump]] — the president Moore advised - [[Art Laffer]] — co-author and supply-side colleague - [[Larry Kudlow]] — co-member of the supply-side media-to-policy pipeline - [[Kevin Hassett]] — co-member of Trump's economic advisory network - [[Grover Norquist]] — the anti-tax enforcer whose pledge Moore's Club for Growth enforces - [[Americans for Tax Reform]] — Norquist's complementary enforcement mechanism - [[Americans for Prosperity]] — the Koch-funded parallel - [[Reagan Tax Cuts]] — the original supply-side template Moore's career serves - [[Bush Tax Cuts]] — the second-generation supply-side legislation - [[Trickle-Down Economics]] — the distributional logic Moore's work advances - [[Federal Reserve]] — the institution that rejected Moore - [[Project 2025]] — the Heritage project that incorporates Moore's supply-side framework - [[Republican Party]] — the party Moore's Club for Growth disciplines - [[Mercatus Center]] — the George Mason institution connected to Moore's M.A. program - [[Steve Forbes]] — supply-side flat-tax advocate in the same network