He hasn’t revealed his thinking, and aides say he has not begun the formal process of determining whether to seek a second term for Jerome Powell in the government’s most important economic policy job. But there’s reason to suspect he may follow the pattern set by Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama when they renominated Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, respectively.The case begins with Powell’s commitment to using expansive monetary policies to support economic activity since the coronavirus pandemic hit early in 2020. He has maintained that view in the name of restoring lost jobs as the economy has returned to robust growth.
Of special significance at the moment, Powell’s view that the current burst of inflation will be only temporary tracks the view of Biden’s economic team — even though that team includes economists significantly more liberal than the onetime private equity executive. Asked last week about growing inflation concerns, one Biden economist told CNN: “I’m where Powell is.”
Biden signaled his comfort with their shared perspective in remarks at the White House touching on inflation earlier this week.
“As I made clear to Chairman Powell when we met recently, the Fed is independent,” the President said. “It should take whatever steps it deems necessary to support a strong, durable economic recovery.”
