Paul Volckner
Paul Volckner was an undersecretary of the Treasury and Federal Reserve chairman.
Contents
History
Volckner entered government in the office of the undersecretary of the Treasury for monetary affairs during the Kennedy administration. He would be appointed to the undersecretary role by Nixon. Critically, he advised Nixon to abandon the gold standard.
In 1975, he became the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Carter nominated Volckner for Federal Reserve chairman in 1979. Reagan re-nominated him for a second term in 1983.
Policies
The abandonment of the gold standard had sweeping consequences domestically and internationally. See here for notes.
The United States was experiencing rapid inflation, with a peak at 14.8% in March 1980. Volckner became emblematic for extremely tight monetary policy. That inflation fell below 3% by 1983 is generally accredited to him.
These tight policies also created Volckner shocks that pushed the unemployment rate over 10%. The 1980-1982 recession is similarly generally accredited to him.