Standing 6’7 in his prime, few men did more to shape world finance in the latter 20th century than Paul Volcker. From a banking background, he was a relative unknown when appointed by Jimmy Carter to the post of Federal Reserve chairman in 1979. With the backing of Carter’s successor, Ronald Reagan, a year later, Volcker set about a strict policy of moneterianism, which caused an immediately recession in 1981, but also laid the groundwork for the financial revival in the mid/late 80s and helped the “Greed Is Good” generation have some house money to play with. After leaving the post he became a strong arguer for reduced Wall Street salaries, the break-up of America’s biggest banks and man of disinterest in financial innovation, claiming that the only positive invention in 20th century finance was the cashpoint machine.
Paul Volcker
September 5, 1927 – December 8, 2019
Died aged 92