President Biden’s decisions about who leads the Federal Reserve will determine whether or not the Fed will lean towards a pro-employment, pro-wage-growth, proworker economy. And those decisions will determine whether the Fed’s policy choices will finally confront the brutal racial employment gap, address the climate change crisis, and fix weakened bank regulations. Much more is still needed, but Biden’s fiscal policy has taken some steps to create a pro-working-people agenda that can have a historic impact for Black and Brown communities. . We can accept nothing less for the essential area of monetary policy. Even if the Fed often avoids public accountability, the intent signaled by Biden’s leadership choices will not. 

The Fed must make up for a lot of damage it has caused; the Fed has a decades-long record of mis-applying its “dual mandate” by leaning away from maximum employment. The result? Decades of unnecessarily high unemployment, stagnant wages, and the high racial employment gap. The Fed has recently improved its monetary policy framework, but that can only be a start; the Fed must make institutional changes to ensure that it keeps the dual mandate in better balance and embrace new policy tools to pursue its maximum employment mandate. And, current Fed leadership has been correctly criticized for weakening key bank regulations and ignoring the risk of climate change, leaving consumers and the economy as a whole at greater risk.

The grassroots leaders of the Fed Up Campaign challenge Biden to make appointments for the Chair and vacant seats on the Board of Governors that demonstrate an ambitious commitment to a Fed that is diverse and pro-working people. Download the Fed Up Campaign's 10-Point Checklist for Fed Chair and Governor Appointment to learn how we will measure and rank any nominee’s commitment →