The Richest Central Banker on the Planet, Jerome Powell Is Also a Man With an Overloaded Agenda.
This is shown by a detailed analysis of its agenda from 2018 to May 2022.
Last I heard, Jerome Powell was the richest central banker on the planet. A high estimate of his wealth exceeds 100 million dollars. It must be said that the Fed boss is a very busy man. This is shown by the analysis of his agenda, between his taking office in 2018 and May 2022.
Apart from monetary policy sessions and foreign trips, the Federal Reserve (Fed) chairman spends more than half of his day in meetings. Both internally and with American politicians, bankers, other central bankers, and members of the administration.
Trump's Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and Joe Biden's Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, have been in regular contact with him.
From the Fed to Capitol Hill
Each year, Jerome Powell has nearly a hundred meetings (phone calls, lunches, and dinners) with American politicians, far ahead of all other categories of interlocutors outside the Fed (foreign officials, central bankers ...). These are mainly members of the House of Representatives and Senators. They include the leaders of both parties, the heads of the Congressional Finance Committees, and the key political stars of both camps, from Mitt Romney to Bernie Sanders...
This search for consensus and support has helped him stay in office despite the crisis over his investments and those of other governors. The Fed chairman, appointed by Donald Trump and then reappointed for a second term by Joe Biden, must be above party politics and a guarantor of the general interest.
The Fed is accountable to the American people and their representatives. Its chairman takes an oath upon appointment to ensure growth, full employment, and low inflation.
This year, Jerome Powell spoke to Congress in March 2022 to try to convince them that he was doing everything he could to control inflation that was then out of control. Members of Congress are particularly sensitive to this. They know that their re-election is at risk if the economy is bad.
Banks and asset managers: the famous 1% club
Depending on the year, he meets between five and fifteen presidents of large private banks and a handful of fund managers. Among them, Larry Fink, the head of BlackRock, stands out because he runs the world's largest management company by assets under management (more than $10 trillion at the end of 2021). He was particularly consulted in the first months of the Covid crisis, between March and May 2020 when the storm was raging in the markets.
Jerome Powell sometimes takes the pulse of the American hedge fund community as evidenced by his dinner on May 8, 2019, with six of the largest fund bosses such as Ray Dalio, head of the world leader Bridgewater. In the private sector, only two foreign bankers were consulted. One is French: Jean Lemierre, chairman of the board of BNP Paribas. The other foreigner is Swiss: Axel Weber, the head of UBS.
All the other bankers are Americans, and Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan) comes out on top in terms of personal interviews. He supported the Fed chairman when he was criticized by Donald Trump.
Wall Street firms court former top officials who bring an address book and access to the highest level. Tim Geithner, who was president of the New York Fed and Treasury Secretary under Barack Obama, provides evidence of this. He was recruited by the Warburg Pincus investment fund and is one of the very few venture capitalists to be received by Jerome Powell.
Companies - Trade Unions - Economists: very rare meetings
In three and a half years, only six companies, mostly from tech - Google, Stripe (online payments) - and cryptos - Coinbase, FTX, Circle - have had access to the Fed chairman. Ford was the only “old economy” group to be invited.
Unions were hardly better off. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the main American union grouping, was only received twice. In a context of high inflation, such as in 2022, the unions' word could be sought.
All central bankers are currently concerned about the impact of inflation on wage negotiations, and the spiral effect that could result. Fearing the erosion of their purchasing power, employees will demand wage increases. The fear of sustained inflation is fuelling the dreaded evil.
In addition to the economic analyses produced by his research departments, Jerome Powell has consulted a handful of economists such as Olivier Blanchard, former chief economist of the IMF who has moved to the Peterson Institute - a private think tank - and Tim Adams, president of the Institute of International Finance. The chief economist of Goldman Sachs, Jan Hatzius, is the only one on Wall Street to have landed an interview with the Fed chairman.
Media: Jerome Powell does his best to defuse controversies
Talking to the mainstream media, such as the Wall Street Journal, allows the Fed governor to explain the central bank's objectives and decisions while dispelling rumors or misunderstandings. This is particularly the case after Fed meetings or during crises such as in 2020.
Jerome Powell also takes advantage of a less busy schedule, especially at the end of the year, to give a few interviews to the media of all stripes, both Republicans and Democrats.
After a cautious start to get used to the idea - a dozen interviews in 2018 - the pace has almost doubled over the next three years. The year 2022 is expected to break all records, with as many interviews given to journalists in the first five months ... as to the other central bankers on the planet. The surge in inflation this year and the controversy over the Fed's inability to anticipate it led him to the front line. Jerome Powell stayed away from Twitter and social networks.
No meeting with a panel of American citizens has been organized for four years. At the end of 2021, 41% of Americans had a good opinion of him, 27% had a negative image, and 31% had no opinion. Jerome Powell is particularly popular among 20-40-year-olds and households earning more than $100,000 a year, according to the Harris Poll for Bloomberg.
Tumultuous relations with the White House
The current White House tenant did not seek him out outside of a meeting during his reappointment as Fed chair. But when Donald Trump was in office, Jerome Powell had two five-minute phone calls on May 20 and March 8, 2019. A dinner described as “informal” had brought them together on February 4. It had lasted 90 minutes and steaks had been served, according to CNN.
During his four years in office, the Republican has not spared his open criticism of U.S. monetary policy (high rates, and too strong a dollar, as a result). In August 2019, Donald Trump asked himself on Twitter:
“Who is our worst enemy, Jay Powell or President Xi Jinping?”
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