Paul Volcker

This article is about a notable investor or person involved with the financial industry. View articles referencing this individual.

 

TOP CONTRIBUTORS

Toni Straka

Paul Adolph Volcker was Federal Reserve Chairman under United States Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan (from August 1979 to August 1987). He is currently chairman of the newly formed Economic Recovery Advisory Board under President Barack Obama[1].

Volcker is credited to have lifted the US economy out of a decade stagflation that sported such negative highlights as 21% interest rates, solid two-digit-inflation and unemployment rates topping 10% after he took over the job from his predecessor G. William Miller.

Latest developments in 2010

After a 22-year semi-retirement Volcker was appointed as head of Economic Recovery Advisory Board under President Barack Obama in early 2009. Volcker, always a staunch advocate of balanced budgets, who told the world as early as 2006 that the USA's deficit spending is unsustainable, landed a surprise victory when US President Barack Obama largely followed his proposals in January 2010 that will (as of January 2009) ban proprietary trading for banks receivinf federal money and essential re-introduce the Glass-Steagall Act that separated investment banks and such taking deposits from 1933 to 1999. It is coming as a surprise that Volcker outgunned Wall Street-pal Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner who had opted for more lax deals for his Wall Street friends. Whether this means Obama moves from Wall Street to Main Street is up to your mind.