Kevin Warsh calls members of his Federal Reserve team, including Marc Andreessen, Doug McMillon
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh on Thursday released the names of experts who will form a five-member task force to examine the institution’s performance – a list that includes several prominent names on Wall Street, business leaders and dozens of academics and former Fed officials.
Warsh first revealed his intention to create the forces last month, saying they would deal with communications, data, the Fed’s balance sheet, data, productivity and jobs and a framework for how policymakers look at inflation.
Among the prominent names involved are venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, former Bank of England Governor Mervin King, and Greg Mankiw, former chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Doug McMillon, former CEO of Walmart, leads the names of business executives involved. Several names, including the king’s, have been leaked before.
“I am pleased that smart minds from various fields have agreed to work with us to sharpen our work as an institution,” said Warsh. “The goal is straightforward: to ensure that the Fed is best positioned to achieve our goals at this critical juncture.”
The Fed’s news release did not indicate a timeline for when the forces will end their work, though Warsh said he expects changes this year.
The statement also noted that the panels “will act independently, with the authority to follow evidence, provide honest feedback, and issue strong findings” that will be reported to Federal Open Market Committee officials.
Members represent a wide range of interests, opinions and backgrounds.
Others called to the task force include Raghuram Rajan, former governor of the Bank of India; former Fed Governor Jeremy Stein and William White, a Canadian economist who warned about central bank money before the 2008 global financial crisis.
For Andreesen, this is the second prominent appointment in recent days, named in late June to the US Defense Policy Board, the Pentagon’s civilian advisory group.
When he first announced the forces, Warsh, who has been chairman for less than two months, said the groups would “start with first principles; ask tough questions; examine current practice; consider alternatives; and, ultimately, propose next steps for policymaker consideration.”
The chairman said in Thursday’s announcement that the Fed “has decided to do our job hard.”
Executives are expected to take a closer look at Fed orthodoxy. Warsh has already had an impact on the Fed’s communications as officials look to offer less guidance on where policy is headed and focus more on their “responsiveness,” or the circumstances under which they will adjust interest rates. The post-meeting statement in June was significantly shorter than previous versions.
The members of the task force are:
Correspondence: Peter R. Fisher, professor of operations, Foster School of Business, University of Washington; Arminio Fraga, founder and chairman, Gávea Investimentos and former president of the Central Bank of Brazil; and the Lord.
Balance Sheet Policy: Karen Dynan, Harvard economist; Rajan and Stein.
Data: McMillon, Harvard economist Raj Chetty and University of Chicago economist Kevin Murphy.
Productivity and Jobs: Andreesen, Stanford economist Charles I. Jones, and Asha Sharma, senior vice president and XBOX CEO at Microsoft.
Inflation Frameworks: Mankiw, White and New York University economist Thomas Sargent.
Groups will be supported along with Fed staff.
