Who is Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari?
The former U.S. Treasury official oversaw TARP during the 2008 financial crisis
Economic challenge is left to Congress, not the Fed: Neel Kashkari
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis president Neel Kashkari says while the Federal Reserve is providing liquidity to the economy, the ultimate challenge is left to Congress because they have the spending and taxing authority during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Neel Kashkari is a voting member of the Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee this year, and he has helped play a pivotal role in the central bank's fast and furious response to the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing economic slowdown.
Kashkari serves as the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, which is one of the 12 district reserve banks. He took office in January 2016.
The 46-year-old, who's from a suburb of Akron, Ohio, began his career as an aerospace engineer at TRW in Redondo Beach, Calif., where he developed technology for NASA space science missions. He then left for graduate school at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, after which he joined Goldman Sachs in San Francisco.
Kashkari followed Goldman Sach's CEO Hank Paulson, who was named secretary of the U.S. Treasury, to Washington. From 2006 to 2009, Kashkari, a Republican, served in several senior roles at the Treasury Department.
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In 2008, he was confirmed as assistant secretary of the Treasury, where he oversaw the Trouble Assets Relief Program (TARP), the bailout of the banking industry during the 2008 financial crisis.
He was dubbed the "$700 billion man," and was skewered by Congress during public testimonies when he was forced to defend multibillion-dollar cash injections.
"Overnight, Kashkari became the face of the biggest, and one of the most controversial, market interventions in American history," The Washington Post reported about Kashkari in 2009. "Even he questioned their chances of success."
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After serving seven months under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Kashkari returned to California. He joined PIMCO as managing director and member of the executive office.
He unsuccessfully ran for governor of California against Jerry Brown in 2014, running on a platform focused on economic opportunity.
He lives with his wife, daughter and three Newfoundland dogs in Minnesota.