Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta CEO: Farewell to the best job I’ve ever had

The past eight years and eight months as president of the Atlanta Fed have been the highlight of my professional career.

To be sure, it’s been hectic and challenging. I’ve had to worry about virtually everything — and everything has happened:

• Initially, a slow-growing economy and inflation that was too low for nearly a decade.
• The COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns of swaths of the economy, resulting in the loss of 22 million jobs in two months.
• Kinks in global supply chains, a vigorous economic rebound and the biggest burst of inflation in 40 years.
• Wars in Europe and the Middle East.
• The onrush of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.
• U.S.-instigated disruptions of long-standing trade relationships and heightened policy uncertainty.
• And, finally, attacks on the Fed’s independence to make monetary policy.

Despite all that, I will miss this job.

Visits across the Southeast yielded fascinating insights

Raphael Bostic will serve as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta through the end of February. (Stephen Nowland/Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta)

I wrestled with fascinating subject matter every day alongside remarkably smart people devoted to the Federal Reserve’s public mission to support the stability of the nation’s economy and financial system. I never stopped learning.

I met business and community leaders and ordinary people across the six states of the Sixth District, from bustling metropolitan areas like Atlanta; Nashville, Tennessee; and Orlando, Florida; to rural pockets and smaller towns like Albany, Georgia; Red Bay, Alabama; and Meridian, Mississippi.

People I met expressed varied perspectives on the economy and harbored varied concerns. But more important than the differences were the commonalities.

Across the region, I discovered a deep commitment to place. Virtually everyone I met cares about their community and sincerely wants the best for their neighbors.

I wrestled with fascinating subject matter every day alongside remarkably smart people devoted to the Federal Reserve’s public mission to support the stability of the nation’s economy and financial system. I never stopped learning.

I met business and community leaders and ordinary people across the six states of the Sixth District, from bustling metropolitan areas like Atlanta; Nashville, Tennessee; and Orlando, Florida; to rural pockets and smaller towns like Albany, Georgia; Red Bay, Alabama; and Meridian, Mississippi.

People I met expressed varied perspectives on the economy and harbored varied concerns. But more important than the differences were the commonalities.

Across the region, I discovered a deep commitment to place. Virtually everyone I met cares about their community and sincerely wants the best for their neighbors.

People were transparent with me in discussing their businesses and the challenges facing their communities, whether it was young people fleeing small towns for opportunity in big cities or lower-income workers struggling to find transportation to employment centers.

I learned a great deal on those visits, and that information added critical texture to economic data and thus informed my monetary policy positions.

The Fed does not need a caretaker now

So, if the job was so fulfilling, why retire?

It was not an easy call. I started pondering my long-term plans more than two years ago. Looking back further, I arrived to find the Atlanta Fed in good shape. There were things I set out to do in collaboration with an excellent leadership team. Fundamentally, we wanted to make the organization more agile and risk tolerant within the bounds of a central bank that is not — and should not be — a freewheeling band of mavericks.

This evolution extended to monetary policy formulation. We aimed to include more voices in the process, hence the frequent travel. I wanted to help ordinary people better understand what the Fed does and also communicate in tangible ways that we are human and serve them.

We worked to activate in the real world the brilliant research our team has always done via programs like the Advancing Careers for Low-Income Families initiative and data tools such as GDPNow and our Home Ownership Affordability Monitor.

In recent months, I began to sense that my fundamental goals for the institution were being internalized and that if I stayed much longer, I risked settling into the role of caretaker. That is not what the bank needs to continue serving the people of the Sixth District.

Meanwhile, circumstances change. And with the bank strong, I grew comfortable moving toward my next chapter.

The day I announced my decision to retire was perhaps the most difficult of my career. I knew I would disappoint people. At the same time, the outpouring of affection from the staff and the larger community has been gratifying. Please be assured that the affection goes both ways.

I want to thank communities across the Southeast for embracing me and my husband, Jeff, and a special thanks goes to the metro Atlanta community for warmly welcoming us and allowing me to serve in important local organizations, including the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the United Way of Greater Atlanta and the Rotary Club of Atlanta.

It has been my great honor to serve the American people as a central banker and, in particular, to serve the people of the Sixth District as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Raphael Bostic will serve as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta through the end of February.