Biden Needs Fed’s Powell on Board to Fix Racial Wealth Gap
- Next presidential term to see three top Fed roles expire
- Powell says he doesn’t have tools to address racial disparity
Photographer: Kyle Rivas/Getty Images
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Joe Biden’s promise to bridge the racial economic gap needs buy-in from one powerful person -- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell -- and he doesn’t sound convinced.
The Democratic presidential nominee wants the Fed to “aggressively” target inequality, even leaving open the possibility of asking Congress to create a third mandate for the central bank. Biden has vowed to nominate minorities to the Fed’s leadership ranks, and if he wins in November would have at least three opportunities to do so in a first term, including the chair.