The New Fed Chair: How Much Does He Matter?

Powell has a different background than his predecessors, but will continue with the same policies during the next financial crisis

President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with his nominee for the chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell during a press event in the Rose Garden at the White House, in Washington on Nov. 2, 2017. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

News Analysis

For decades, the Federal Reserve (Fed) has run not on a gold standard but on a Ph.D. standard. Academics like Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan thought they could manage the most complex and most important price of the market economy—the interest rate—with a few mathematical equations.