Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Princeton University graduates on Sunday that he didn’t major in economics as a student because, at the time, he found the subject “boring and useless.”
As Powell gave the Baccalaureate address at Princeton, where he graduated with a degree in political science, he recounted his path to a career that included the private sector and government service.
“I had no real plan for life after Princeton,” he said. “Many of my classmates and friends went straight into prestigious graduate schools, politics, or Wall Street. Others went on to global capitals, the military, or the Peace Corps.”
He continued: “I had brushed off my parents’ one academic suggestion, which was to major in economics, which struck me as boring and useless. After 13 years at the Fed, I admit I was wrong about that.”
Powell then spoke about life after Princeton and how it set him up for his future.
“After graduation, I had no plan and no job, and wound up putting labels on shelves in a warehouse for six months. I didn’t feel great about that,” he said. “In hindsight, that time in the warehouse was a blessing, and exactly what I needed. The next fall I entered law school, and for the first time I was highly resolved to make the most of the opportunity.”
Powell attended law school at Georgetown University and later worked in investment banking and at the Treasury Department.
In 2011, then-President Barack Obama nominated Powell to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and Powell joined the board in 2012 after the Senate confirmed his nomination. In 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Powell to serve as chair, and in 2021, then-President Joe Biden renominated Powell as chair.
In recent months, Trump has publicly griped about Powell. In April, he said he was “not happy” with the Federal Reserve chair, in part because Powell has not lowered interest rates this year.
That same month, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”
Trump later said he had “no intention” of firing Powell. Last November, Powell said he wouldn’t leave his post even if Trump asked him to.
“Not permitted under the law,” he said at the time.
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