Raphael Bostic

Raphael Bostic
15th President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 5, 2017
Preceded byDennis P. Lockhart
Personal details
Born (1966-06-05) June 5, 1966 (age 58)
New York City, U.S.
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Stanford University (MA, PhD)

Raphael W. Bostic (born June 5, 1966) is an American economist, academic, and public servant who has served as the 15th president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta since 2017.[1][2] During his academic career, Bostic served as chair of the Department of Governance, Management, and the Policy Process at the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.[3]

Early life

Bostic was born to Rafael Theodore Bostic of St. Croix[4] and Viola Williams in New York City and grew up in Delran Township, New Jersey, where he was valedictorian of Delran High School.[5] He earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from Harvard University in 1987 with a combined major in economics and psychology. In 1995, he earned his doctorate in economics from Stanford University.[6]

Career

Bostic served as a board member of Freddie Mac, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Abode Communities. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, vice president of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, a member of the board of trustees of Enterprise Community Partners, and a research advisory board member of the Reinvestment Fund.

Bostic was an economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 1995 to 2001, and the assistant secretary for policy development and research at United States Department of Housing and Urban Development from 2009 to 2012. He was the Chair of the Department on Governance, Management and the Policy Process at the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California from 2012 to 2017.

In 2020, Bostic wrote an essay for the FRB Atlanta entitled, "A Moral and Economic Imperative to End Racism."[7] In it he wrote that systematic racism drags on the economy.[8]

On October 14, 2022, Bostic failed to disclose stock trading transactions in the five years leading the bank that were revealed after a federal investigation. Bostic stated a 3rd party manager had made the transactions, unknowingly to him.[9] Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has asked the Office of Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board to initiate an independent review of President Bostic's financial disclosures.

On September 11, 2024, the Office of the Inspector General reported that Bostic had "violated the FOMC blackout rule when securities transactions were executed on his behalf during multiple blackout periods."[10]

Political future

Throughout his career, Bostic has been mentioned as a potential nominee for a variety of roles in the federal government. In November 2020, Bostic was named as a potential candidate for Secretary of the Treasury in the then-upcoming Biden administration, a position that ultimately went to Janet Yellen.[11]

In August 2021, Bostic was mentioned as a contender for the position of Comptroller of the Currency. He has recently been mentioned as a possible replacement for Jerome Powell as Chair of the Federal Reserve, before he was re-nominated for a second four-year term. [12]

Personal life

Bostic is the first African-American and first openly gay[13] person selected to lead a regional Federal Reserve bank.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Atlanta Fed Names Bostic New President and CEO". Atlanta Fed. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  2. ^ Bio Archived August 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Federal Reserve Board.
  3. ^ "Dean's Message: Raphael Bostic named president of Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta". USC Price School of Public Policy. March 16, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  4. ^ "Atlanta Fed president feels the pull of Crucian roots". The Virgin Islands Daily News. August 7, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  5. ^ "Scholarly People", Courier-Post, June 13, 1983. Accessed April 9, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Delran High School senior Raphael Bostic is the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship from the National Honor Society. He is editor of the yearbook and president of the band."
  6. ^ "Raphael Bostic, Incoming President and Chief Executive Officer as of June 5, 2017", Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, March 13, 2017. Accessed March 19, 2017. "Dr. Bostic was born in 1966 and grew up in Delran, New Jersey. A high school valedictorian, he graduated from Harvard University in 1987 with a combined major in economics and psychology—disciplines he believes are intimately interrelated. After a brief stint in the private sector, Bostic earned his doctorate in economics from Stanford University in 1995."
  7. ^ "A Moral and Economic Imperative to End Racism". Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  8. ^ Cox, Jeff (July 6, 2020). "Raphael Bostic, the Fed's first Black branch president, says racism has economic impacts". CNBC. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  9. ^ Timiraos, Nick (October 14, 2022). "Atlanta Fed President Discloses Violations of Financial Transaction Policies". Wall Street Journal.
  10. ^ "Report of Investigation on the Closing of 23-0020-I Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President's Trading Activity" (PDF). September 11, 2024.
  11. ^ "Who Are Contenders for Biden's Cabinet?". The New York Times. November 11, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  12. ^ "Bostic Tells Axios He Hears Fed Chair Speculation 'All The Time'". Bloomberg.com. May 24, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  13. ^ Soergel, Andrew. "Atlanta Fed Names Raphael Bostic Next President". www.usnews.com. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  14. ^ Applebaum, Binyamin (March 13, 2017). "Raphael Bostic to Be First Black President of a Fed Regional Bank". New York Times. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
Other offices
Preceded by President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
2017–present 		Incumbent