Tom Barkin - Photos by Caroline Martin
In Tom Barkin’s first weeks as president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, he became a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the powerful group that sets benchmark interest rates for the nation.
Barkin, formerly an Atlanta-based senior partner with the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., approached the January meeting as a challenge.
“You have to bring your ‘A’ game,” he says. “You have in the room 10 or 12 of the premier Ph.D. economists of the world, many of whom have studied and written and spoken on this topic for decades. You have experienced bank supervisors and experienced bankers who know their industry better than anybody. If you have pride and a competitive spirit, which I have, you want to contribute in a meaningful way.”
