President Donald Trump has chosen former Federal Reserve Board Governor Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the central bank.
“I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” Trump said on TruthSocial. “On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down.”
The president has previously said that he expects the next Fed chair to lower interest rates.
Warsh will succeed current chair Jerome Powell, who is serving until May, when his term expires. Powell is under investigation by Trump’s Justice Department for alleged false statements about renovations to the Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C., that have increased in cost to $2.5 billion.
Trump was reportedly choosing between Warsh, Fed Governor Chris Waller, BlackRock Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income Rick Rieder, and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.
Warsh is the Shepard family distinguished visiting fellow in economics at the Hoover Institution and a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is also a partner of Stanley Druckenmiller at Duquesne Family Office LLC.
Following the 2009 financial crisis, Warsh was skeptical of cutting rates. At the November 2010 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Warsh expressed concerns about the Fed’s plan to stimulate the economy by lowering long-term interest rates through additional asset purchases.
But more recently, Warsh has criticized Powell for being too hesitant to lower interest rates. He told Fox Business’ “Kudlow” program in July that he had “some sympathy” for Trump being frustrated with how Powell is handling interest rates.
“Economic growth in the U.S. is poised to boom, but it’s being held down by bad economic policies coming from the central bank, bad supervision policies, bad monetary policies, and a very confusing set of standards as we’ve gone from last year to this year,” Warsh said.
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