Marriner Eccles
1890 – 1977 American Chairman of the Federal Reserve (1934-1948)
The Mormon banker from Utah who reshaped the Federal Reserve and backed deficit spending.
- Religion
- Latter-day Saint
- Affiliations
- Utah banker and New Deal reformer who argued for government spending to fight the Depression.
Marriner Eccles was a self-made banker from Utah who came to Washington during the New Deal. He argued that government spending was needed to lift the economy out of the Depression, reaching conclusions close to those of John Maynard Keynes on his own. As head of the Federal Reserve he led the Banking Act of 1935, which centralized the system's power in Washington. He clashed with the Treasury over Fed independence after World War II.
Connections
- connected to John Maynard Keynes — Independently reached similar views on public spending to fight the Depression.
In the timeline
- 1934 Marriner Eccles becomes head of the Federal Reserve central figure