Paul Volcker
1927 – 2019 American Economist, chairman of the Federal Reserve
Federal Reserve chairman whose steep interest-rate rises broke 1970s inflation at a heavy cost.
- Religion
- Lutheran
- Affiliations
- Chairman of the US Federal Reserve 1979-1987; earlier a Treasury official; later chaired advisory bodies under President Obama.
Paul Volcker was a career public servant who became chairman of the Federal Reserve in 1979. To break the high inflation of the 1970s he raised interest rates sharply, a policy known as the Volcker shock that pushed the United States into recession and drove up the cost of debt worldwide. The move helped trigger the Latin American debt crisis but is widely credited with restoring price stability. He later led an inquiry into Iraq's oil-for-food programme and chaired an economic advisory board under President Obama, lending his name to the Volcker Rule on bank trading.
In the timeline
- 1979 – 1982 The Volcker shock and rising interest rates Fed chairman
- 1979 Paul Volcker becomes chairman of the Federal Reserve Fed chairman
- 1979 The Volcker shock central figure
- 1979 The Volcker shock raises the price of debt Fed chairman
- 1996 The Oil-for-Food program becomes a corruption scandal mentioned