Fred Schultz was Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve during one of those watershed periods that come up consistently throughout history. No Economist, he was a Korean Army vet (artillery officer) before jumping into (actual) banking as well as investment services. Whether or not he was some star-crossed addition to the Fed’s top-level roster, some kind of monetarily jinxed influence is probably unlikely.
The possibility, however, was raised by Mr. Schultz himself at his last FOMC meeting. This was February 1 and 2 of 1982, and things were neither going well for the central bank nor in America. Caught in a deep recession, one that began the previous summer under the still swirling heated winds of the Great Inflation, looking forward to his own retirement the Vice Chairman saw in it a possible change in fortunes for both.
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