Volcker set to step down as US economic adviser
FORMER Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker plans to leave his role as head of a panel of experts advising President Barack Obama on the economy, sources familiar with the decision said yesterday.
The departure of Volcker, 83, as head of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board is among a series of changes under review at the White House.
The decision to leave the board was Volcker’s. A source close to him said he was ready to continue to advise Obama on an informal basis as often as the president would like.
Volcker, who became a legendary figure on Wall Street when as Fed chief he broke the back of double-digit US inflation in the early 1980s by sharply raising interest rates, began advising Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign and has wielded clout on issues ranging from financial regulation to fiscal policy.