Ten years ago, 12 of the 17 Fed governors and presidents had doctorates in economics, or about 70 percent. When Hammack takes over for Mester in August, only 10 of the 19 will have one, or 53 percent. There are now four former lawyers, outnumbering the bankers (assuming we’ve never solved anyone’s background; if so, we’re very sorry).
For the past two decades the dominance of econ PhDs has been overwhelming, with 14 of the 19 top jobs held by people with science doctorates – about 74 percent, say statisticians. And several of the rest had strong economics credentials (Olson had a BA in economics, Geithner had an MA and Sandra Pianalto had a BA and MA and was a Fed economist).
Here’s another from Robin Wigglesworth at FT Alphaville.
Source link