Who is Kevin Hassett and why is he the front-runner for Fed Chair?

I confess I'd never even heard of Kevin Hassett until just recently, when he's suddenly the front-runner - possibly the only runner-  for the job of director the United States Federal Reserve (the Fed), one of the most powerful positions in the USA.

Well, it used to be a powerful position. Under Trump 2.0 it may well be demoted to the status of a largely ceremonial quango. Never shy of controversy, Donald Trump has publicly stated that "Anybody that disagrees with me will never be the Fed Chairman". Chilling stuff. Of course, Hassett is on record as saying that Trump would have "no weight" in interest rate decisions, but everyone knows differently: under Trump, the Fed's sole job is to reduce interest rates.

But, even more chilling is that there was a time - a time that lasted decades - when Hassett would definitely not have fit the mould for Trump's Fed director. See, he used to be an outspoken proponent of free trade and of the economic necessity for immigration. But then, suddenly, he seems to have experienced a Paulian conversion to isolationism, tariffs and the mass deportation of immigrants, coincidentally the very same policies that Trump espouses. His ex-friends and colleagues say they don't recognize the man.

So, what happened to disabuse him of beliefs he has held most of his adult life? Hassett himself says "I signed up with Trump knowing that some in my party might never forgive me ... I did so because Trump saw truths in plain sight ignored by politicial professionals and coastal elites". Eeeuww! 

So, is Trump's economic vision so very compelling? (Most economists disagree with it.) Is Trump just really that persuasive? Does he have some sort of a hold over Hassett? Or is Hassett either so submissive or so nakedly ambitious that he is willing to sacrifice all his beliefs and principles to get to the top of the pile (or what passes for the top of the pile under Trump)?

Hassett was a Colombia University Business School professor and an advisor to George Bush John McCain and Mitt Romney before joining Trump's National Economic Council. There are those, even within the Trump administration, who maintain that Hassett does not deserve the top Fed job anyway, particularly as he has not been at all effective as head of the National Economic Council. They say that all Hassett did at the NEC was to serve as a public messenger for Trump's agenda, without personally contributing to driving policy at all.

But, wait, that's EXACTLY the brief for Trump's Chair of the Federal Reserve. Hassett will be perfect!