It takes a brave leader to try to hit the brakes on a booming economy in order to rein in inflation, but Jerome Powell appears to be doing just that—and so far, without triggering a recession.
As the 16th chair of the Federal Reserve, he has hiked interest rates closing in on a dozen times since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when shortages sent price increases to 40-year highs. And as rates soared from 0% to 5% and banks began to fail, Powell was instrumental in calming the public by giving assurances that the US banking system is sound, all depositors’ savings are safe, and that he is prepared to do everything in his power to keep it that way.
At age 70, Powell is the oldest Federal Reserve chair to serve and the only one without an economics degree. Rather, he majored in politics at Princeton, got his law degree from Georgetown, and spent his career as a Wall Street investment banker before entering government service. Although his path to office has been untraditional, Powell has remained steadfast in his mission to return inflation to 2% and mitigate the risk it poses to those least able to afford the rising costs of essentials, like food, housing, and transportation.
