Federal Reserve Names Experts to Five Task Forces Reviewing Operations

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh on Thursday released the names of the experts who will serve on five task forces examining the central bank's operations. The groups will study communications, data, the balance sheet, productivity and jobs, and inflation frameworks. Warsh said the panels will operate independently and report findings to the Federal Open Market Committee.

The communications task force includes Peter R.

The balance sheet policy group includes Harvard economist Karen Dynan, former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan, and former Fed Governor Jeremy Stein. The data task force is led by former Walmart CEO Doug McMillon along with Harvard economist Raj Chetty and University of Chicago economist Kevin Murphy.

The productivity and jobs panel includes venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Stanford economist Charles I. Jones, and Asha Sharma, executive vice president and Xbox CEO at Microsoft.

Warsh first announced the task forces last month.

He said the groups will start with first principles, ask hard questions, and propose next steps for policymakers. "I am honored that the best minds from a range of disciplines have agreed to work with us to sharpen our performance as an institution," Warsh said.

The panels are expected to complete their work by the end of the year. A Fed news release did not specify an exact completion date. Warsh has said he expects changes to come this year. The task forces will examine current practice and consider alternatives to existing approaches.