Jerome H. Powell
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Jerome Hayden "Jay" Powell (born February 4, 1953) is an American investment banker and lawyer who has been the 16th
chair of the Federal Reserve The chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the Federal Reserve, and is the active executive officer of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The chairman p ...
since 2018. A native of
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, Powell graduated from
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
and from the
Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...
. After working as an attorney for five years, he switched to
investment banking Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by und ...
in the mid-1980s and worked for several financial institutions, including as a partner of
the Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...
. In 1992, Powell briefly served as
under secretary of the Treasury for domestic finance The under secretary of the treasury for domestic finance is a high-ranking position within United States Department of the Treasury that reports to, advises, and assists the secretary of the treasury and the deputy secretary of the treasury. The ...
under President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
. Powell left Carlyle Group in 2005 and founded Severn Capital Partners, a private investment firm. He was a visiting scholar at the
Bipartisan Policy Center The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that promotes bipartisanship. The organization aims to combine ideas from both the Republican and Democratic parties to address U.S. policy challenges. History BPC w ...
from 2010 to 2012 before returning to public service. He became a member of the
Federal Reserve Board of Governors The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the mo ...
after being nominated to the post by President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
in 2012. He was subsequently elevated to chairman by President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
(succeeding
Janet Yellen Janet Louise Yellen (born August 13, 1946) is an American economist who served as the 78th United States secretary of the treasury from 2021 to 2025. She also served as chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018. She was the first woman to h ...
) and renominated to the position by President
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
. Powell built his reputation in Washington during the Obama administration as a consensus-builder and problem-solver. Powell received bipartisan praise for the actions taken by the Federal Reserve in early 2020 to combat the financial effects of the reactions to
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. As the Federal Reserve continued to apply high levels of monetary stimulus to further raise asset prices and support growth, some observers perceived a disconnect between asset prices and the economy. Powell has responded by arguing that supporting the Fed's dual mandate of stable prices and full employment outweighed concern over high asset prices. ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' said the scale and manner of Powell's actions had "changed the Fed forever" and shared concerns that he had conditioned
Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
to unsustainable levels of monetary stimulus to artificially support high asset prices. In November 2020, ''
Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...
'' called Powell "Wall Street's Head of State", as a reflection of how dominant Powell's actions were on asset prices and how profitable his actions were for Wall Street. Nearing the end of his first year in the White House, President Biden nominated Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve Chair and the
Senate Banking Committee The United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (formerly the Committee on Banking and Currency), also known as the Senate Banking Committee, has jurisdiction over matters related to banks and banking, price controls, ...
approved of his renomination with only one dissenting vote; he was confirmed to a second term in an 80–19 vote on May 12, 2022. Following President Biden's renomination of Powell, the Fed Chairman retired his previous words "transitory inflation", and indicated a reduction in
quantitative easing Quantitative easing (QE) is a monetary policy action where a central bank purchases predetermined amounts of government bonds or other financial assets in order to stimulate economic activity. Quantitative easing is a novel form of monetary polic ...
(QE) and
mortgage-backed security A mortgage-backed security (MBS) is a type of asset-backed security (an "Financial instrument, instrument") which is secured by a mortgage loan, mortgage or collection of mortgages. The mortgages are aggregated and sold to a group of individuals ( ...
(MBS) purchases due to the
2021–2023 inflation surge Following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a worldwide surge in inflation began in mid-2021 and lasted until mid-2022. Many countries saw their highest inflation rates in decades. It has been attributed to various causes, including pandemic-related ...
, with the
consumer price index A consumer price index (CPI) is a statistical estimate of the level of prices of goods and services bought for consumption purposes by households. It is calculated as the weighted average price of a market basket of Goods, consumer goods and ...
(CPI) in November 2021 having reached 6.8%.


Early life and education

Jerome Powell was born on February 4, 1953, in Washington, D.C., as one of six children to Patricia (née Hayden) and Jerome Powell Sr., a lawyer in private practice. His maternal grandfather, James J. Hayden, was Dean of the
Columbus School of Law The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. More than 370 Juris Doctor students attend the ...
at
Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...
and later a lecturer at
Georgetown Law Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment, with over ...
School. He has five siblings: Susan, Matthew, Tia, Libby, and Monica. Powell graduated from
Georgetown Preparatory School Georgetown Preparatory School (also known as Georgetown Prep) is a Jesuit college-preparatory school in Rockville, Maryland for boys in ninth through twelfth grade. It has a 93-acre (380,000 square meters) campus. It is the only Jesuit boarding s ...
, a
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
university-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...
, in 1971. He received a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
from Princeton University in 1975, where his senior thesis was titled "South Africa: Forces for Change". After spending a year as a
legislative assistant A legislative assistant (LA), legislative analyst, legislative research assistant, or legislative associate, is a person who works for a legislator as a legislative staffer in a semi-political partisan capacity, in a non-partisan capacity at a th ...
to Republican U.S. Senator
Richard Schweiker Richard Schultz Schweiker (June 1, 1926 – July 31, 2015) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of health and human services under President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1983. A member of the R ...
of Pennsylvania, Powell attended the Georgetown University Law Center. He was
editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
of the ''
Georgetown Law Journal ''The Georgetown Law Journal'' is a student-edited scholarly journal published at Georgetown University Law Center. It is the flagship law review of the Georgetown University Law Center. Overview The ''Georgetown Law Journal'' is headquartered ...
'' and graduated in 1979 with a
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
.


Career


Legal and investment banking

After law school, Powell moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and spent two years as a
law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...
to Judge
Ellsworth Van Graafeiland Ellsworth Alfred Van Graafeiland (May 11, 1915 – November 20, 2004) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Education and career Van Graafeiland was born on May 11, 1915, in Rochester, N ...
of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont, and it has appellate jurisdic ...
. He then entered private practice at the law firm
Davis Polk & Wardwell Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, commonly known as Davis Polk, is an American multinational corporation, multinational law firm headquartered in New York City with offices in Washington, D.C., Menlo Park, California, Menlo Park, London, Madrid, Brussel ...
before moving to the firm of Werbel & McMillen in 1983. From 1984 to 1990, Powell worked at
investment bank Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...
Dillon, Read & Co.(now under
UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...
), where he concentrated on financing, merchant banking, and mergers and acquisitions, rising to the position of vice president. Between 1990 and 1993, Powell worked in the
United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...
, at which time Nicholas F. Brady, the former chairman of Dillon, Read & Co., was the
United States Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
. In 1992, Powell became the
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance The under secretary of the treasury for domestic finance is a high-ranking position within United States Department of the Treasury that reports to, advises, and assists the secretary of the treasury and the deputy secretary of the treasury. The ...
after being nominated by
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
. During his stint at the Treasury, Powell oversaw the investigation and sanctioning of
Salomon Brothers Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York City. It was one of the five List of investment banks, largest investment banking enterprises in the United States and a very profitabl ...
after one of its traders submitted false bids for a
United States Treasury security United States Treasury securities, also called Treasuries or Treasurys, are government bond, government debt instruments issued by the United States Department of the Treasury to finance government spending as a supplement to taxation. Sinc ...
. Powell was also involved in the negotiations that made
Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist who currently serves as the chairman and CEO of the conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway. As a result of his investment success, Buffett is ...
the
chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
of
Salomon Brothers Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York City. It was one of the five List of investment banks, largest investment banking enterprises in the United States and a very profitabl ...
. In 1993, Powell began working as a managing director for
Bankers Trust Bankers Trust was a historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997 before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. Deutsche Bank sold the Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corp ...
. He left in 1995 after the bank suffered reputational damage when some complex
derivative In mathematics, the derivative is a fundamental tool that quantifies the sensitivity to change of a function's output with respect to its input. The derivative of a function of a single variable at a chosen input value, when it exists, is t ...
transactions caused large losses for major corporate clients. He then went back to work for Dillon, Read & Co. From 1997 to 2005, Powell was a partner at
The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...
, where he founded and led the Industrial Group within the Carlyle U.S. Buyout Fund. After leaving Carlyle, Powell founded Severn Capital Partners, a private investment firm focused on specialty finance and opportunistic investments in the industrial sector. In 2008, Powell became a managing partner of the Global Environment Fund, a
private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...
and
venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...
firm that invests in
sustainable energy Energy system, Energy is sustainability, sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the e ...
. Between 2010 and 2012, Powell was a visiting scholar at the
Bipartisan Policy Center The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that promotes bipartisanship. The organization aims to combine ideas from both the Republican and Democratic parties to address U.S. policy challenges. History BPC w ...
, a
think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
in Washington, D.C., where he worked on getting Congress to raise the
United States debt ceiling In the United States, the debt ceiling is a law limiting the National debt of the United States, total amount of money the federal government can borrow. Since the federal government has consistently run a Deficit spending, budget deficit since ...
during the
United States debt-ceiling crisis of 2011 In 2011, ongoing political debate in the United States Congress about the appropriate level of government spending and its effect on the national debt and deficit reached a crisis centered on raising the debt ceiling, leading to the passage ...
. Powell presented the implications to the economy and interest rates of a default or a delay in raising the debt ceiling. He worked for a salary of $1 per year.


Federal Reserve Board of Governors (2012–2018)

In December 2011, along with Jeremy C. Stein, Powell was nominated to the
Federal Reserve Board of Governors The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the mo ...
by President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
. The nomination included two people to help garner bipartisan support for both nominees since Stein's nomination had previously been
filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking ...
ed. Powell's nomination was the first time that a president nominated a member of the opposition party for such a position since 1988. He took office on May 25, 2012, to fill the unexpired term of
Frederic Mishkin Frederic Stanley "Rick" Mishkin (born January 11, 1951) is an American economist and Alfred Lerner professor of Banking and Financial Institutions at the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University. He was a member of the Federal Reserve Bo ...
, who resigned. In January 2014, he was nominated for another term, and, in June 2014, he was confirmed by the
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
in a 67–24 vote for a 14-year term which would have ended on January 31, 2028 had he not become the federal reserve chairman in 2018. Powell was a skeptic of round 3 of
quantitative easing Quantitative easing (QE) is a monetary policy action where a central bank purchases predetermined amounts of government bonds or other financial assets in order to stimulate economic activity. Quantitative easing is a novel form of monetary polic ...
(or QE3), initiated in September 2012, although he eventually voted for it. In 2013 Powell endorsed
financial regulation Financial regulation is a broad set of policies that apply to the financial sector in most jurisdictions, justified by two main features of finance: systemic risk, which implies that the failure of financial firms involves public interest consi ...
to end the problem of institutions that are
too big to fail "Too big to fail" (TBTF) is a theory in banking and finance that asserts that certain corporations, particularly financial institutions, are so large and so interconnected with an economy that their failure would be disastrous to the greater e ...
, while urging that it should be implemented carefully. In April 2017, he was assigned to head the bank oversight committee. In a July 2017 speech, Powell said that in regard to
Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the New ...
and
Freddie Mac The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is an American publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons, Virginia.Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, commonly referred to as Dodd–Frank, is a United States federal law that was enacted on July 21, 2010. The law overhauled financial regulation in the aftermath of the Great Reces ...
have made the financial system safer and must be preserved. However, he also stated that the
Volcker Rule The Volcker Rule is sectioof the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (). The rule was originally proposed by American economist and former United States Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker in 2010 to restrict United S ...
should be re-written to exclude smaller banks.


Federal Reserve Chairman (2018–present)

On November 2, 2017, President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
nominated Powell to serve as the
chair of the Federal Reserve The chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the Federal Reserve, and is the active executive officer of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The chairman p ...
, replacing
Janet Yellen Janet Louise Yellen (born August 13, 1946) is an American economist who served as the 78th United States secretary of the treasury from 2021 to 2025. She also served as chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018. She was the first woman to h ...
at the helm of the
central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...
. On December 5, the
Senate Banking Committee The United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (formerly the Committee on Banking and Currency), also known as the Senate Banking Committee, has jurisdiction over matters related to banks and banking, price controls, ...
approved Powell's nomination to be chair in a 22–1 vote, with Senator
Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...
casting the lone dissenting vote. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate on January 23, 2018, by an 84–13 vote. Powell assumed office as chair on February 5, 2018.


Trump first administration (2018–2021)

One of Powell's first actions was to continue to raise US interest rates, as a response to the increasing strength of the US economy. He also announced that the Fed would reduce its asset portfolio from US$4.5 trillion to a range of US$2.5–3 trillion over four years in a process called
quantitative tightening Quantitative tightening (QT) is a contractionary monetary policy tool applied by central banks to decrease the amount of liquidity or money supply in the economy. A central bank implements quantitative tightening by reducing the financial asse ...
. This tight policy drew public criticism from President Trump, who expressed second thoughts about nominating Powell and said that the chair was too enthusiastic about raising rates. Financial assets of all classes declined over 2018 and markets erupted in volatility in December. Powell abandoned quantitative tightening in early 2019, leading to a recovery in asset prices. Trump continued to state, with increasing hostility, that Powell was not reacting quickly enough. As a trade war with China escalated over the summer of 2019, Trump called the Fed's policies "insane" and labelled Powell an "enemy." He privately discussed with White House counsel the possibility of firing Powell, which Powell dismissed. In an August interview, Trump said that he completely disagreed with Powell's approach and called for a sharp cut in interest rates. In October 2019, as asset prices waned, Powell announced the Fed would return to expanding its balance sheet, which led to a global rally in assets. Powell said the Fed's actions were not
quantitative easing Quantitative easing (QE) is a monetary policy action where a central bank purchases predetermined amounts of government bonds or other financial assets in order to stimulate economic activity. Quantitative easing is a novel form of monetary polic ...
, but some dubbed them as being QE4. Where Bernanke-era quantitative easing was conducted through outright purchases of assets, Powell's expansion operates through overnight
repurchase agreement A repurchase agreement, also known as a repo, RP, or sale and repurchase agreement, is a form of secured short-term borrowing, usually, though not always using government securities as collateral. A contracting party sells a security to a lend ...
s (repos) where the seller has the option to reverse the transaction. The Fed's
primary dealer A primary dealer is a firm that buys government securities directly from a government, with the intention of reselling them to others, thus acting as a market maker of government securities. The government may regulate the behaviour and number of i ...
s and other banks use the repo facilities to sell Treasury and agency securities in exchange for credit to supplement their cash on hand.


=COVID-19 recession response

= In early 2020, Powell launched an unprecedented series of actions to counter the
financial market impact of the COVID-19 pandemic Economic turmoil associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging and severe impacts upon financial markets, including stock, bond, and commodity (including crude oil and gold) markets. Major events included a described Russia–Saudi ...
, which included a dramatic expansion of the Fed's balance sheet and introduction of new tools, including the direct purchase of corporate bonds and direct lending programs. Powell emphasized ''monetary policy'' alone without an equivalent ''fiscal policy'' response from Congress would widen
income inequality In economics, income distribution covers how a country's total GDP is distributed amongst its population. Economic theory and economic policy have long seen income and its distribution as a central concern. Unequal distribution of income causes ...
. Powell's actions earned him bipartisan praise, including from Trump, who told
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
that he was "very happy with his performance" and that "over the last period of six months, he's really stepped up to the plate". On November 19, 2020, after disagreeing with Treasury Secretary
Steve Mnuchin Steven Terner Mnuchin ( ; born December 21, 1962) is an American investment banker and film producer who served as the 77th United States secretary of the treasury as part of the first cabinet of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021. Serving for nearl ...
, Powell agreed to return unused crisis funds to the
United States Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and ...
. Both he and Mnuchin then urged Congress to approve more stimulus.


=Asset price inflation

= To mitigate the
financial market impact of the COVID-19 pandemic Economic turmoil associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging and severe impacts upon financial markets, including stock, bond, and commodity (including crude oil and gold) markets. Major events included a described Russia–Saudi ...
, Powell accepted asset price inflation as a consequence of Fed policy actions. Powell was criticized for using high levels of direct and indirect quantitative easing as valuations hit levels last seen at the peaks of previous bubbles. The Fed's acceptance of asset price inflation from 2019 onwards resulted in levels of
wealth inequality The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society. It shows one aspect of economic inequality or economic heterogeneity. The distribution of wealth differs from the income distribution in that ...
not seen in the United States since the 1920s. Fed asset purchases were also seen as contributing to the K-shaped recovery that emerged during the coronavirus pandemic, where the asset bubbles protected the wealthier segments of society from the financial effects of the pandemic, at the expense of most other segments, and particularly on the younger non-asset owning segments such as millennials. In January 2021,
Edward Luce Edward Geoffrey Luce (born 1 June 1968) is an English journalist and the ''Financial Times'' chief US commentator and columnist based in Washington, D.C. Early life Luce is the son of Rose Helen (born Nicholson) and Richard Luce, Baron Luce ...
of the ''Financial Times'' warned that the Fed's use of asset purchases, and the resultant widening of wealth inequality, could lead to political and social instability in the United States, saying: "The majority of people are suffering amid a Great Gatsby-style boom at the top". Powell's expansion of credit through repo contracts, seen as a new "
Greenspan put The Greenspan put was a monetary policy response to financial crises that Alan Greenspan, former chair of the Federal Reserve, exercised beginning with the crash of 1987. Successful in addressing various crises, it became controversial as it le ...
," created large profits for Wall Street investment banks. In June 2020, Jim Grant likened Powell's policy to drug dealing, calling him "the Fed's Dr. Feelgood." In a September 2020 testimony, Powell said: "Our actions were in no way an attempt to relieve pain on Wall Street". By the end of 2020, Wall Street investment banks recorded their best year in history, and ''Bloomberg'' called 2020, ".. a great year for Wall Street, but a
bear market A market trend is a perceived tendency of the financial markets to move in a particular direction over time. Analysts classify these trends as ''secular'' for long time-frames, ''primary'' for medium time-frames, and ''secondary'' for short time ...
for Humans".
Mohamed A. El-Erian Mohamed Abdullah El-Erian (; born August 19, 1958) is an Egyptian-American economist and businessman. He is List of Presidents of Queens' College, Cambridge, President of Queens' College, Cambridge, and chief economic adviser at Allianz, the cor ...
called Powell "a follower, not a leader", of markets. Powell defended his actions saying: "I don't know that the connection between asset purchases and financial stability is a particularly tight one", and that he wasn't worried that the Fed's actions were creating asset bubbles. In July 2020,
CNBC CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...
host
Jim Cramer James Joseph Cramer (born February 10, 1955) is an American television personality, author, entertainer, and former hedge fund manager. He is the host of ''Mad Money'' on CNBC, and an anchor on ''Squawk on the Street''. After graduating from Ha ...
said, "I'm sick and tired of hearing that we're in a bubble, that Powell's overinflating the price of stocks by printing money to keep the economy moving". The ''Washington Post'' called the Fed "addicted to propping up markets, even when there is no need". In August 2020, investors Leon Cooperman and
Seth Klarman Seth Andrew Klarman (born May 21, 1957) is an American billionaire investor, hedge fund manager, and author. He is a proponent of value investing. He is the chief executive and portfolio manager of the Baupost Group, a Boston-based private in ...
warned of a dangerous "speculative bubble", with market psychology "unhinged from market fundamentals". In August 2020, ''
Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...
'' called Powell's policy "exuberantly asymmetric" (echoing
Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He worked as a private adviser and provided consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates L ...
's "
irrational exuberance "Irrational exuberance" is the phrase used by the then- Federal Reserve Board chairman, Alan Greenspan, in a December 1996 speech given at the American Enterprise Institute during the dot-com bubble of the 1990s. The phrase was interpreted as a wa ...
" quote from 1996), and that the "Powell Put" had become more extreme than the "Greenspan Put".
Steven Pearlstein Steven Pearlstein is an American columnist who wrote on business and the economy in a column published twice weekly in ''The Washington Post''. His tenure at the WaPo ended on March 3, 2021. Pearlstein received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Comme ...
in ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' said that Powell had "adopted a strategy that works like a one-way ratchet, providing a floor for stock and bond prices but never a ceiling", and that any attempt by Powell to abandon this strategy "will trigger a sharp sell-off by investors who have become addicted to monetary stimulus". By December 2020, Powell's monetary policy, measured by the
Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...
US Financial Conditions Index (GSFCI), was the loosest in the history of the GSFCI (beginning in 1987), and had created simultaneous asset bubbles across most of the major asset classes in the United States: For example, in equities, in housing, and in bonds.
Cryptocurrencies A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. Individual coin ownership records ...
also saw dramatic increases in price during 2020, leading Powell to win the 2020 ''Forbes Person Of The Year In Crypto''. The asset price boom during the pandemic attracted a generation of young investors who explicitly credited Powell for promoting froth in financial markets. Gathering in online communities like
Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...
's
r/wallstreetbets r/wallstreetbets, also known as WallStreetBets or WSB, is a subreddit where participants discuss stock and option trading. It has become notable for its colorful jargon, aggressive trading strategies, stories of extreme gains and losses acquire ...
board, they discussed high-risk trades and shared
meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...
s that depicted "J-Pow" using the Fed's money printer to flood the economy. In December 2020, Powell defended high asset prices by invoking the controversial
Fed model The "Fed model", or "Fed Stock Valuation Model" (FSVM), is a disputed theory of equity valuation that compares the stock market's forward earnings yield to the nominal yield on long-term government bonds, and that the stock market – as a whole ...
, saying: "Admittedly P/Es are high but that's maybe not as relevant in a world where we think the 10-year Treasury is going to be lower than it's been historically from a return perspective". The author of the Fed model, Edward Yardeni, said Powell's actions could form the greatest financial bubble in history, while the ''Wall Street Journal'' described Powell's comparison as an attempt to "rewrite the laws of investing".


Biden administration (2021–2025)

In April 2021, Powell reassured concerns over a potential housing bubble, similar to the
one 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
that preceded the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
. He stated, "we don't see bad loans and unsustainable prices and that kind of thing." In August 2021, Powell expected the Fed to reduce economic support later in the year. In the past Powell has considered inflation transitory, a term Powell states should now be "retired". In response to widespread high inflation readings Jerome Powell has indicated an increase in the speed of tapering asset purchases, namely up to $30 billion per month. In Jerome Powell's confirmation hearing in 2022 he described inflation as being a "severe threat" to the US economic recovery due to "higher costs of essentials like food, housing and transportation". Prices for American consumers are rising at their fastest annual rate since June 1982. In response, the central bank aims to raise rates as soon as March 2022. The most recent December 2021 CPI reading hit 7%. In light of his term as chair expiring in February 2022, many Democrats began to express opposition to Powell's reappointment. In August 2021, progressive Democrats, including
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born October 13, 1989), also known as AOC, is an American politician and activist who has served since 2019 as the United States House of Representatives, US representative for New York's 14th congressional distric ...
, called on President
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
to replace Powell, criticizing him for failing to "mitigate the risk climate change poses to our financial system". In September 2021, Senator
Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...
, Democrat of Massachusetts, criticized Powell for his financial regulation track record and called him a "dangerous man to head up the Fed." Powell was renominated for a second term by President Joe Biden on November 22, 2021. His initial nomination expired at the end of the year and was returned to President Biden on January 3, 2022. President Biden presented his nomination to the Senate the following day. Hearings were held on Powell's nomination before the Senate Banking Committee on January 11, 2022. The committee favorably reported Powell's nomination to the Senate floor on March 16, 2022, in a 22–1 vote; Senator Elizabeth Warren was the lone member to vote against his nomination. His nomination for another term as chair through May 2026 was confirmed by the full U.S. Senate on May 12, 2022, in an 80–19 vote. He was sworn in for his second term as chair on May 23, 2022.


Trump second administration (2025–present)

Trump has expressed disapproval regarding the Fed's speed at cutting interest rates. When questioned regarding whether the President has the authority to remove a sitting Fed Chair, Powell stated that this is "not permitted under the law". In April 2025, Trump posted on Truth Social that "Powell's termination cannot come fast enough!" Legal scholars agree that a sitting Fed Chair cannot be removed without cause, and Trump later stated that he had no intention of firing Powell.


Personal life

Powell married Elissa Leonard in 1985 at the Episcopal
Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Wa ...
. They have three children and live in Chevy Chase Village,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
, where Elissa is chair of the board of managers of the village. In 2010, Powell was on the board of governors of Chevy Chase Club, a
country club A country club is a privately-owned Club (organization), club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Ty ...
. Based on public filings, as of 2019 Powell's net worth was estimated to be in a range between $20 and $55 million. Powell has served on the boards of charitable and educational institutions including DC Prep, a public charter school, the
Bendheim Center for Finance Bendheim Center for Finance (BCF) is an interdisciplinary center at Princeton University. It was established in 1997 at the initiative of Ben Bernanke. Yacine Ait-Sahalia served as the Center's inaugural director (1998-2014). The Center is dedica ...
at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
, and
The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...
. He was also a founder of the Center City Consortium, a group of 16
parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...
s in the poorest areas of Washington, D.C. Powell is a registered Republican and a longtime fan of American rock band the
Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
.


See also

*
2020 stock market crash On 20 February 2020, stock markets across the world suddenly crashed after growing instability due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The crash ended on 7 April 2020. Beginning on 13 May 2019, the yield curve on U.S. Treasury securities inverted, ...
*
China–United States trade war An economic conflict between China and the United States has been ongoing since January 2018, when U.S. president Donald Trump began Tariffs in the first Trump administration, imposing tariffs and other trade barriers on China with the aim of fo ...
*
COVID-19 recession The COVID-19 recession was a global economic recession caused by COVID-19 lockdowns. The recession began in most countries in February 2020. After a year of global economic slowdown that saw stagnation of economic growth and consumer activit ...
*
Greenspan put The Greenspan put was a monetary policy response to financial crises that Alan Greenspan, former chair of the Federal Reserve, exercised beginning with the crash of 1987. Successful in addressing various crises, it became controversial as it le ...
*
Financial market impact of the COVID-19 pandemic Economic turmoil associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging and severe impacts upon financial markets, including stock, bond, and commodity (including crude oil and gold) markets. Major events included a described Russia–Saudi ...


References


External links


Official


Biography
from the
Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

FederalReserve.gov


Other


Statements and Speeches of Jerome H. Powell
in Saint Louis Federal Reserve Database * {{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Jerome Hayden 1953 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers American investment bankers Biden administration personnel Chairs of the Federal Reserve Davis Polk & Wardwell lawyers Georgetown Preparatory School alumni Georgetown University alumni Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Maryland Republicans Obama administration personnel People from Chevy Chase, Maryland Princeton University alumni The Carlyle Group people First Trump administration personnel