The United States Federal Reserve on Friday announced that Kevin Warsh had taken the oath of office as chairman and member of the Board of Governors. Succeeding Jerome Powell in this role, Warsh previously served as a Federal Reserve governor from 2006 to 2011.
The new Fed chief is also ‘pro-cryptocurrency’, the online digital currency that continues to gain widespread attention among global investors. This is also evident from Warsh’s financial disclosures, showing investments tied to more than 20 crypto-related projects and funds.
Who is Kevin Warsh?
Born in New York in 1970, Warsh studied at Stanford University and earned a bachelor’s degree with honours in 1992. He then attended Harvard Law School and joined Morgan Stanley in New York in 1995. From 1995 to 2002, Warsh worked at Morgan Stanley as vice president and executive director.
In February 2002, he left his Morgan Stanley job to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He served as special assistant for economic policy and as executive secretary at the National Economic Council.
In 2006, Bush nominated him to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. He is now a visiting fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and a lecturer at the Graduate School of Business. He also serves on the board of United Parcel Service.
He has close family ties to Trump through his father-in-law, billionaire Ronald Lauder. Analysts say he would be a more traditional, less dovish Fed chair.
He will serve a four-year term as Fed chief until May 21, 2030. He also serves as chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed’s principal monetary policymaking body, which decides interest rates.
The 55-year-old was also considered for the Fed chair role during Donald Trump’s first term. Warsh has remained a prominent critique of the Fed and enjoys favourable terms with Trump.
Upon his appointment, the US president remarked: Warsh would have the “full support of my administration’ and would be “fully independent” in his new role. At the same time, Trump also urged him to recognise that “growth does not mean inflation.”
