Trump Is Expected to Name Jerome Powell as Next Fed Chairman
Richard Fisher, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, who worked
with Mr. Powell at the Fed, said Mr. Powell “is neither a hawk nor a dove.”
“I used to say that we all want to be wise owls,” he added, “and I think that he fits that category very well.”
Mr. Fisher said Mr. Powell was moderate to a fault.
Jon Faust, a professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University who worked with Mr. Powell at the Fed, said
Mr. Powell had endeavored to understand monetary policy and had demonstrated a strong grasp of the subject.
Describing an effort already underway at the Fed, he said, “The whole idea is to preserve
the significant core reforms that were made but to go back and clean up our work.”
Mr. Powell would require Senate confirmation, and his views, particularly on regulation, could draw opposition
from some conservatives in the Senate, 21 of whom voted against his confirmation as a Fed governor in 2014.
At a Senate hearing in June, Mr. Powell agreed that there was room to improve regulation,
but he described the Trump administration’s proposals as a “mixed bag,” adding that he opposed some of the specific proposals.