Jerome Powell Concludes 4-Year Fed Chair Term After Steering Economy Through Pandemic and 7% Inflation
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 14
Jerome Powell Concludes 4-Year Fed Chair Term After Steering Economy Through Pandemic and 7% Inflation
9 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 14
Jerome Powell’s tenure as Federal Reserve chair is ending, closing a period in which he became defined as much by institutional independence as by monetary policy.
7% inflation marked the biggest policy failure cited in the retrospective, even as the Fed under Powell was credited with preventing the pandemic from turning into a financial crisis.
Trump’s threats form the article’s central lens on Powell’s legacy, arguing that his refusal to bend to political pressure may outlast judgments on rates, inflation and crisis management.
2011 provides the backstory: Powell, then a Republican candidate for a Fed governor seat despite lacking formal macroeconomics training, was chosen after other options fell away and was valued for integrity and courage.
That reputation had surfaced earlier in Washington’s debt-limit fights, when Powell warned that ideas such as defaulting on debt or selling Fort Knox gold were damaging or impossible.
What does Powell's unprecedented decision to remain on the board signal for the Fed's future independence?
Can the new Fed chair deliver rate cuts and productivity growth without reigniting runaway inflation?