Jerome Powell Salary Admission Sparks Debate

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spoke about his salary on Tuesday, sparking an array of different responses on social media.

While speaking at the Economic Club of Washington Powell was asked by billionaire David Rubenstein what the salary of the Federal Reserve chair is.

"It's around $190,000, I believe," Powell said. "If we have family expenses...that exceed my salary, then we have to sell an asset."

When asked further if he thinks it's a fair salary, Powell said, "I do," which prompted some laughter from the crowd.

The remarks by Powell prompted an array of different responses on Twitter, including one which featured a link to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors website that mentioned the salary for the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

"The Congress sets the salaries of the Board members. For 2019, the Chair's annual salary is $203,500. The annual salary of the other Board members (including the Vice Chair and Vice Chair for Supervision) is $183,100," the Federal Reserve Board of Governors website states.

David Gura, of NPR, also shared a different screenshot from the Office of Personnel Management which showed that the Federal Reserve Chair makes around $226,300 per year.

"During a Q&A at The Economic Club of Washington, The Carlyle Group's David Rubenstein asked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell what his salary is. 'Around $190,000,' Powell replied. In fact, the Fed chair is paid $226,300, according to the Office of Personnel Management," Gura wrote.

Twitter user Finance Philosopher wrote, "Jerome powell just said his salary is $190k a year. Could you live on this?"

Twitter user Locke said, "Jerome Powell's net worth is calculated at a range of $20M to $55M dollars. He just said his yearly salary at the FED is $190K, I dont believe he just stopped making big money when he started at the FED..."

Renaissance Macro Research Twitter account said Powell should "Ask for a pay increase."

"The fact that Jerome Powell believes $190,000 per year is a fair salary for Chair of the Federal Reserve is dovish," the tweet said.

During his discussion at the Economic Club of Washington, Powell also spoke about the jobs report published last week which showed the U.S. government adding over 500,000 jobs in January.

"We didn't expect it to be this strong," Powell said. "It kind of shows you why we think that this will be a process that takes a significant period of time."

Powell added that he believes that a decrease in inflation "will take some time."

Newsweek reached out to the Federal Reserve for comment.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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