Finance & economics | Brain gain

Lael Brainard will take control of America’s economic nerve centre

It is a formidable job

FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard testifies before a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., on January 13, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
Meet the new bossImage: Reuters
|Washington, DC

A dimly lit room, with a small meeting table and a desk, may not look like a focal point for America’s economy. But the director of the National Economic Council’s (nec’s) office, in the White House west wing, is a crucial place. Its occupant for the past two years, Brian Deese, has crafted the administration’s response to the covid-19 slowdown, inflation and China. In the coming days Lael Brainard, a board member at the Federal Reserve since 2014, will take over the poky but powerful office.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Brain gain”

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