Former Richmond Fed President Lacker Joins Mercatus

Arlington, Va. –– The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is pleased to welcome the Honorable Jeffrey M. Lacker as Senior Affiliated Scholar working on monetary policy, payments and central bank governance. Dr. Lacker brings deep policy experience in economics including 28 years in the Federal Reserve System.

“I am delighted to join the Mercatus Center” said Dr. Lacker. “I look forward to contributing to the center’s mission of advancing economic knowledge that is relevant to practical policymaking.”

Dr. Lacker was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond from 2004-17. He was a participant in meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee throughout that time, including rotations as a voting FOMC member in 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015, casting eight votes dissenting from FOMC decisions in 2012.

He joined the Richmond Fed in 1989 as an economist in the research department, becoming senior vice president and director of research in May 1999. Dr. Lacker was an assistant professor at Purdue University from 1984-89 and was distinguished professor at Virginia Commonwealth University from 2018-22. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has published widely on monetary and payment economics.

“We are thrilled to have Jeffrey Lacker join our team,” said David Beckworth, lead scholar on the monetary policy team. “His expertise on the payment system, financial stability, monetary policy, and Fed governance are a great addition to the Mercatus monetary policy project.”

For additional information or to request an interview, please contact Frank Fuhrig, Media Relations Manager, at (703) 993-8298 or [email protected].