A decade ago, 12 of 17 Fed governors and chairs held doctorates in economics, or about 70 percent. When Hammack replaces Mester in August, only 10 of 19 will have one, or 53 percent. There are now also four former lawyers, more than the bankers (assuming we haven’t spoiled anyone’s past; if so, our apologies).
Twenty years ago, the reign of economics PhDs was even more dominant, with 14 of the 19 top jobs held by dismal science PhDs – almost 74 percent, statistics fans. And several of the others had strong economics credentials (Olson had a bachelor’s degree in economics, Geithner had a master’s degree, and Sandra Pianalto had both a bachelor’s and master’s degree and was a lifer economist at the Fed).
