- William Poole (Federal Reserve Bank president)
Dr. William Poole (born
June 19 ,1937 ) was the the eleventh chief executive of theFederal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . He took office on March 23, 1998 and began serving his full term on March 1, 2001. In 2007, he served as a voting member of theFederal Open Market Committee , bringing his District's perspective to policy discussions in Washington. Poole stepped down from the Fed onMarch 31 ,2008 .Dr. Poole is Senior Fellow at the
Cato Institute , Senior Advisor toMerk Investments and, as of fall 2008, Distinguished Scholar in Residence at theUniversity of Delaware .Biography
Dr. Poole was born on June 19, 1937, in
Wilmington, Delaware . He received an A.B. degree in 1959 fromSwarthmore College and anM.B.A. in 1963 and aPh.D. ineconomics in 1966, both from theUniversity of Chicago . Swarthmore honored him with aDoctor of Laws degree in 1989.Dr. Poole began his career at the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System in 1964 and worked as a senior economist there from 1969 to 1974. In 1974, he joined the faculty atBrown University ,Providence, Rhode Island , twice served as chairman of the economics department, and for five years directed the university's Center for the Study of Financial Markets and Institutions. He was theHerbert H. Goldberger Professor of Economics there when he joined the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.Throughout his career, Dr. Poole has served as a visiting scholar and an adviser at numerous institutions. From 1970 to 1990 he was a member of, and became senior adviser to, the Brookings Panel on Economic Activity. In 1980-81, he was a visiting economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia. From 1982 to 1985, Dr. Poole was a member of the
Council of Economic Advisers and a member of the Academic Advisory Panels of the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Boston. From 1985 until his appointment to the St. Louis Bank, Dr. Poole was an adjunct scholar at theCato Institute and a member of theShadow Open Market Committee . In 1991, Dr. Poole was Bank Mees and Hope Visiting Professor of Economics at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. From 1989 to 1995, he served on theCongressional Budget Office Panel of Economic Advisors. In addition, he has been an adviser and consultant to theFederal Reserve Bank of Boston , a visiting scholar at theFederal Reserve Bank of San Francisco , and a visiting economist at theReserve Bank of Australia .Poole has engaged in a wide range of professional activities, including publishing numerous papers in professional journals. He has published two books, Money and the Economy: A Monetarist View, in 1978, and Principles of Economics, in 1991. During his 10 years at the St. Louis Fed, he gave over 150 speeches on a variety of topics.
Dr. Poole is a director of United Way of Greater St. Louis and member of the
Webster University Board of Trustees. He was a member of the Chancellor's Council of theUniversity of Missouri-St. Louis 1999-2003. He was inducted into The Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars in 2005 and presented with the Adam Smith Award by the National Association for Business Economics in 2006. In 2007, theGlobal Interdependence Center presented him its Frederick Heldring Award.In a
July 10 ,2008 interview with Bloomberg News discussing twoGovernment Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) --Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac --Dr. Poole said, "Congress ought to recognize that these firms are insolvent, that it is allowing these firms to continue to exist as bastions of privilege, financed by the taxpayer." [ [http://uk.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idUKBNG6370020080710 Fannie, Freddie insolvent, Poole tells Bloomberg] ,Reuters News , retrieved onJuly 12 ,2008 ] The common and preferred equity shares of both GSEs declined sharply following Dr. Poole's comments, which prompted several Congressmembers, the OFHEO regulator, the Treasury Secretary, and PresidentGeorge W. Bush to make comments that were seen as supportive to the GSEs in order to stem fears that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would require a government bailout.References
* [http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2008/mar/poole032508.html Federal Reserve Bank president to join UD] ,
University of Delaware , Retrieved onMay 30 ,2008
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