Atlanta’s Fed President Sounds Policy Impact Alarm On Racial Wealth Gap

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By CultureBanx Team

  • Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic condemns policies that impede minority families from amassing wealth
  • Out of the 12 Federal Regional banks, Bostic is the only Black person on the Federal Reserve’s policy setting committee

Atlanta Fed Chief Raphael Bostic is sounding the alarm on the centuries old “pernicious and persistent” racial wealth gap. Out of the 12 Federal Regional banks, Bostic is the only Black person on the Federal Reserve’s policy setting committee, meaning there’s only one African American with a direct say on U.S. monetary policy. He’s calling out things like the impact of long-outlawed policies including how “redlining” Blacks out of white neighborhoods continues to influence the ability of minority families to amass wealth.

Why This Matters: Bostic, the first black person named president of one of the Fed’s regional banks, has been among the most outspoken Fed officials in an evolving conversation at the central bank about economic inequality. He warns that racist practices and policies, on top of their more obvious social and psychological toll, generate a lasting and pervasive drag on the economy as well, according to MarketWatch.

Progress is incremental. Something more fundamental must happen

“Progress is incremental. Something more fundamental must happen,” Bostic said at a conference hosted by the Atlanta Fed and Princeton University.

Due to the Fed’s chronic white male problem it’s harder for the institution to pay closer attention to how minorities, and the economically dis-advantaged can be helped by central-bank policy choices. With the absence of Black voices at the highest levels of monetary policy, means that America’s flagrant racial problems are often ignored or misunderstood.

Situational Awareness: Bostic did not offer specific policy suggestions, but noted how the exclusion of farm and domestic workers from Depression-era social insurance programs excluded a disproportionate number of blacks from benefits, while both redlining and other housing policies undermined the accumulation of wealth.

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