Paul Adolph Volcker

Volcker, Paul Adolph (1927– ), U.S. economist and chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (1979–87). He served as undersecretary for monetary affairs in the Treasury Department (1969–74) and president of the New York Reserve Bank (1975–9) before being appointed to head the Federal Reserve by President Jimmy Carter. He was architect of the Board's tight-money policy, which kept interest rates on borrowing high in order to contract the money supply and dampen inflation. In 1983 President Ronald Reagan appointed him to a second term.

See also: Economics.