Everything you need to know about Jerome Powell, Trump's likely pick to lead the Federal Reserve

Business Insider ^ | 10/31/2017 | Pedro Nicolaci da Costa

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President Donald Trump looks set to appoint Jerome Powell, a former private-equity executive at Carlyle Group who now sits on the Federal Reserve board, as the next Fed chair.

While the official announcement is not expected until Thursday, several news outlets starting with Politico have reported that he is the likely nominee, citing White House sources.

The choice of Powell would be a departure in a long tradition of reappointing Fed chairs to a second term, regardless of party affiliation. Janet Yellen, a Democrat, actively interviewed for the job.

Powell, a 64-year-old Republican, was appointed to the Fed's powerful Washington-based board of governors in 2012 by President Barack Obama. Powell worked in private industry much of his life and was a partner at Carlyle Group from 1997 to 2005. He had to learn on the job a bit when it came to monetary theory and interest-rate policy, but his financial background made him well-equipped.

Danielle DiMartino Booth, who served as an adviser to Richard Fisher, then the Dallas Fed president, told Business Insider she didn't see Powell's lack of formal monetary economic training as a liability.

"His experience in private equity affords him a unique vista on shadow banking, and his background in politics is critical for dealing with the craziness that it DC these days," said DiMartino Booth, who founded the research firm Money Strong. "He's not a Ph.D. in economics, which too few are highlighting in my view."

The appointment of Powell, who is among the wealthiest members of the Fed, is likely to be well received on Wall Street, which will see him as a friendly face on possible deregulation but also, importantly, as a voice of continuity in interest-rate policy at a key time for the central bank.

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PERSONAL BACKGROUND:

SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_H._Powell

Jerome H. Powell was born in February 1953 in Washington, D.C. He graduated from the Georgetown Preparatory School in 1971, received an A.B. in politics from Princeton University in 1975 and earned a law degree from Georgetown University in 1979.

While at Georgetown, he was editor-in-chief of the Georgetown Law Journal. He is married with three children.

After graduating from law school, he worked as an associate for the investment bank Dillon, Read & Co.. Prior to his appointment to the Board of Governors, Powell was a visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where he focused on federal and state fiscal issues. From 1997 through 2005, he was a partner at the Carlyle Group.

Powell served as an assistant secretary and as undersecretary of the Treasury under President George H. W. Bush, with responsibility for policy on financial institutions, the Treasury debt market, and related areas. Nicholas F. Brady, a former Dillon, Read & Co. colleague, was the then sitting Secretary of the Treasury. Prior to joining the Bush administration, he worked as a lawyer and investment banker in New York City. In 1985, Powell was an Associate at Dillon Read and at the time of his Senate confirmation in September 1990 he was a Senior Vice President of the firm.

In addition to service on corporate boards, Powell has served on the boards of charitable and educational institutions, including the Bendheim Center for Finance at Princeton University and The Nature Conservancy of Washington, D.C., and Maryland

[The Sons of Liberty]

The choice of Powell would be a departure in a long tradition of reappointing Fed chairs to a second term, regardless of party affiliation. Janet Yellen, a Democrat, actively interviewed for the job.

Had Yellen stuck to monetary and fiscal policy, party affiliation would not be an issue, but there were numerous times when her actions blatantly showed her true dem colors.

[Captain Peter Blood]

The Fed needs a new direction. I think part of the reason for the disasters we have had is the academics appointed to the job. Bernanke nor Yellen have any real experience in the real world and that is a problem.