Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) chastised Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Sunday for his handling of the economy.
“At this point, my feelings about Jay Powell are well known. He’s held two jobs. The first is to address monetary policy. The first is to deal with regulations. “He’s failed at both,” Warren remarked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this week.
Notwithstanding the banking sector’s upheaval, which has resulted in the failure of two banks, the Fed is likely to hike interest rates again this week.
The Massachusetts senator, who has been loud in asking for stricter banking rules, also chastised Powell for deregulation that occurred under his watch, including the rollback of Dodd-Frank Act measures implemented in 2010 in response to the 2008 financial crisis.
Warren stated on ABC’s “This Week” that Powell “stepped up and took a flamethrower to the restrictions.”
This is what prompted Warren to reject Powell’s nomination to the Fed, she said.
“Jerome Powell has stated that all he wants to do is reduce bank restrictions. That is why I opposed him as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank. “I said he was a dangerous individual in this position,” she explained.
Warren, who has long opposed government action that benefits big business at the expense of small businesses and the nation’s workforce, also chastised Powell for sacrificing US jobs to combat inflation.
“What Chair Powell is attempting — and he has stated very simply — is to slow down the economy so that (by the Fed’s own calculation) — 2 million people will lose their jobs. “And I believe the head of the Federal Reserve should not be doing that,” Warren stated.
When asked if President Joseph Biden should take over as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Warren told NBC’s Chuck Todd, “I don’t think he should be Chairman of the Federal Reserve.”