Jerome Powell’s first meeting: Will he rock the boat?
Jerome Powell’s first meeting as the Fed chair will conclude Wednesday, and while it seems a guarantee that the Fed will decide to hike rates, there is some uncertainty on the pace of future rate hikes with the Fed under new leadership.
A too aggressive Fed could pressure the markets, therefore, investors will likely pay very close attention to Powell’s language in his first news conference after the meeting. So, what do we know about the new Fed chair, and what stance is he likely to take?
Powell is widely seen as a moderate who will continue current Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s dovish policies, but will likely be more amenable to relaxing regulations. Beyond those basics, here are three interesting facts about the Fed chair nominee.
Rare Investment Banking background
Powell is a lawyer by training, and he worked in law, briefly, before switching to investment banking. Eventually, he made partner at The Carlyle Group.
Previous Federal Reserve chairs have largely been sourced from academia. This includes current Fed Chair Janet Yellen, an economist and prior professor, as well as her predecessor Ben Bernanke, who was also an economist and a professor. A noteworthy exception to this pattern is Alan Greenspan, who chaired the Fed from 1987 to 2006. Greenspan worked in equity research and consulting until his federal appointment.
Deep pockets, among richest Fed chairs
Powell disclosed a net worth between $19.7 million and $55 million in his most recent financial filings. This means he would be the richest Fed chair since Marriner Eccles left the office in 1948, according to The Washington Post.
He once worked for $1 a year
Powell left the banking world in 2005 and later served as a fiscal policy scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center, where he took a salary of just $1, as previously reported by FOX Business.