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Christopher Waller

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Chris Waller
Waller in 2022
Member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 18, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded bySarah Bloom Raskin
Personal details
Born1959 (age 64–65)
Political partyRepublican
EducationBemidji State University (BS)
Washington State University, Pullman (MA, PhD)

Christopher J. Waller is an American economist who has been a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors since 2020. A nominee of then-President Donald Trump, he was confirmed by the Senate in December 2020, to serve through January 2030.[1][2]

He was previously the research director of and an executive vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Waller's research has centered on monetary theory, political economy, and macroeconomic theory.[3]

Early life and education

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Waller was born in Nebraska City, Nebraska in 1959. He spent his childhood in South Dakota and then Minnesota.[4] Waller received a B.S. in economics from Bemidji State University in 1981, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Washington State University in 1984 and 1985.[5]

Career

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Waller (right) sworn in virtually as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors by Chair Jerome Powell in December 2020. Waller was sworn in virtually due to precautions for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Waller worked at Indiana University's Department of Economics from 1985 to 1998, where he was an associate professor, assistant professor and director of graduate studies. He was a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and Washington University in St. Louis from 1994 to 1995. He taught economics at the University of Kentucky from 1998 to 2003 and was also a research fellow at the Center for European Integration Studies at the University of Bonn, in Germany. He was Gilbert F. Schaefer Chair of Economics at the University of Notre Dame from 2003 to 2011, on leave from 2009.[5][6][7]

Waller joined the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis as research director in 2009.[6] He was also executive vice president there.[8] In that role, he helped make the St. Louis Fed’s Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) and Economic Education Program internationally recognized resources. He also fostered a close partnership with the department of economics at Washington University in St. Louis.[4]

In July 2019, President Donald Trump tweeted his intent to nominate Waller and Judy Shelton to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.[8][9][10][11][12]

After hearings in February 2020, the Senate Banking Committee voted 18–7 in July 2020 to advance Waller's Fed nomination.[13] He was confirmed in the Senate on December 3, 2020, by a vote of 48–47.[1][14][15][16] He took the oath of office remotely via videoconference on December 18[17] from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.[18][19] His term will end January 31, 2030.[2]

As of 2024, Waller was on three committees of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. He was a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs; chair of the Committee on Federal Reserve Bank Affairs and Oversight Governor for RBOPS (Reserve Bank Operations and Payments Systems); and chair of the Committee on Clearing, Payments, and Settlement.[20]

Views

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Waller's academic and policy research has centered on monetary theory, political economy and macroeconomic theory.[21][22]

Shortly before and after joining the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Waller was viewed as a monetary policy "dove", favoring expansionary policy and low interest rates.[23] He worked closely with the St. Louis Federal Reserve bank's president, James B. Bullard, who was a vocal supporter of lower interest rates in 2019.[6] Waller argued that the Fed should not raise rates at that time (in 2019), when inflation was low and private savings were high.[24][25] As inflation accelerated in 2021, though, Waller was an early advocate for tapering asset purchases, particularly purchases of mortgage-backed securities, to create policy space to increase interest rates in 2022.[26] In April 2022, he advocated aggressively raising the Federal Reserve's policy interest rate to contain inflation.[27] The personal consumption expenditure measure of inflation, for which the Federal Reserve's target was 2% a year, was above 6% at the time.[28] In July 2022, Waller and Federal Reserve Board staff member Andrew Figura issued a paper claiming that the U.S. economy could enjoy a "soft landing," with the unemployment rate rising only 1 percentage point or less as inflation declined from the levels of the time closer to the Federal Reserve's target level. A number of prominent economists contested that view, but as of 2024, it seemed that Figura and Waller were correct.[29] As inflation came down in 2024, Waller supported reducing the Federal Reserve's policy rate.[30]

Waller has expressed skepticism about a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States, saying that it is not clear what market failure in the U.S. payments system it would resolve.[31] The following year, during The Clearing House Annual Conference 2024, he likened stablecoins to "synthetic" currency that could benefit the financial system by eliminating inefficiencies, but emphasized the need to address safety issues.[32]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Siegel, Rachel (December 3, 2020). "Senate confirms Christopher Waller to the Fed board as Judy Shelton's path narrows". Washington Post. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Christopher J. Waller sworn in as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System". federalreserve.gov. Federal Reserve. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  3. ^ Edwards, Greg (January 17, 2020). "Who is Trump nominee Chris Waller of the St. Louis Fed?". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Christopher J. Waller". Federal Reserve History. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Executive Bios | Christoper Waller". www.stlouisfed.org. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Newburger, Emma (July 2, 2019). "Trump to nominate Judy Shelton, Christopher Waller to the Federal Reserve". CNBC. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  7. ^ "Curriculum Vitae, Christopher J. Waller". Department of Economics, University of Notre Dame. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Smialek, Jeanna (July 2, 2019). "Trump Taps Two Fed Nominees, One Conventional, the Other Not". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  9. ^ Guida, Victoria (July 2, 2019). "Trump taps 2 for Fed board, risking new clash with Congress". POLITICO. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  10. ^ Harrison, Paul Kiernan and David. "Christopher Waller, Judy Shelton Are Trump's Latest Picks for Fed Board". WSJ. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  11. ^ Long, Heather (November 21, 2019). "Trump's Fed nominee Judy Shelton recently questioned the need for an independent central bank". Washington Post. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
  12. ^ "PN1423 — Christopher Waller — Federal Reserve System". Library of Congress. January 28, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  13. ^ Kiernan, Paul (July 21, 2020). "Trump Fed Nominees Shelton, Waller Confirmed by Senate Committee". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  14. ^ Chaney, Nick Timiraos and Sarah (February 14, 2020). "Path to Confirmation Dims for Fed Nominee After Republican Objections". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  15. ^ "With two Republicans absent, Senate lacks votes to advance Fed nominee". Roll Call. November 17, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  16. ^ Brown, Courtenay. "Senate blocks Trump Fed pick Judy Shelton's confirmation". Axios. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  17. ^ "Waller sworn in as Federal Reserve Board governor". Reuters. December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  18. ^ "Christopher J. Waller sworn in as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System". federalreserve.gov. Federal Reserve. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  19. ^ "Christopher J. Waller". federalreserve.gov. Federal Reserve. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  20. ^ "Board Member Assignments - Board Committees". Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  21. ^ Edwards, Greg (January 17, 2020). "Who is Trump nominee Chris Waller of the St. Louis Fed?". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  22. ^ "Christopher J. Waller". Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Economic Research. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  23. ^ Miller, Josh Wingrove, Rich (July 3, 2019). "Trump's latest Fed choices are a longtime monetary dove and a onetime gold bug". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 4, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ "St. Louis Fed's Waller Joins Bullard in a Dovish Duo at the Fed". July 3, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  25. ^ "Two Fed nominees likely to support Trump push for easier rate policy". American Banker. July 3, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  26. ^ "Fed's Waller Joins Support for Targeting MBS Purchases in Taper". BNNBloomberg. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  27. ^ "Fed's Waller Says Economy Can Handle Half-Point Rate Hikes". Bloomberg. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  28. ^ "Personal Consumption Expenditures: Chain-type Price Index (PCEPI)". FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data). Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  29. ^ Timiraos, Nick (February 28, 2024). "The Fed Governor Who Proved Larry Summers Wrong". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  30. ^ Condon, Christopher (September 20, 2024). "Fed's Waller Says Slowing Inflation Led Him to Support Large Rate Cut". BNNBloomberg. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  31. ^ "Fed's Waller remains unconvinced of need for CBDC". ABA Banking Journal. American Bankers Association. October 6, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  32. ^ "Fed's Waller: Stablecoins could bring benefits to financial system", Reuters Accessed December 13, 2024.
Government offices
Preceded by Member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
2020–present 		Incumbent
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