By CultureBanx Team
- Over 100-plus years, the Federal Reserve Board has had just 3 Black governors
- Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic is the only Black person on the Federal Reserve’s policy setting committee
There’s an urgent need to diversify the leadership of the nation’s most powerful monetary policymakers, to help lead the country at a historic moment of crisis that by definition, requires a strong diversity of views. Out of the 12 Federal Regional banks, Atlanta Fed President Raphael 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. A new report from the Center for Popular Democracy found that some Federal Reserve regional banks have made modest progress in gender and racial diversity. However, board members from the business and banking sectors continue to dominate leadership positions.
Why This Matters: The Fed has a serious lack of diversity at its highest levels. Since it loves statistics, and the numbers in this case don’t lie; Among the 408 economists at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, only one is a Black woman. Over 100-plus years, the Fed’s highly influential, Washington-based board has had just three Black governors, all of them male. Bostic 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.
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
Additionally, the report found that of 108 directors now on the Fed boards, 77% are bankers or from business, 72% are white and just under 60% are male. In a system where 10 of the 12 regional bank presidents are white, and three are female. 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.
Situational Awareness: 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. Current Fed President Jay Powell referred to the disproportionate rise in Black unemployment as “heartbreaking.”
CBx Vibe: “Fed Up” DJ Khaled, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne
