The Federal Reserve named more than a dozen external advisers to lead five task forces that will re-examine how the central bank operates, drawing mainly on well-respected academics with deep ties to establishment policymaking circles.
Among the advisers: Greg Mankiw, a former top adviser in the George W. Bush administration, Nobel laureate Thomas Sargent, and Doug McMillon, former chief executive of Walmart. There are also some wild cards, including three movers and shakers from the world of artificial intelligence who will serve on a task force on the job market.
The task forces, announced by Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh during his first press conference last month, are the leading edge of a reform effort Warsh has pledged for the central bank. He has said his priorities include reducing the Fed's presence in financial markets, pulling back on guidance about future policy moves, and rethinking how the Fed uses statistics to understand the economy.
"I am honored that the best minds from a range of disciplines have agreed to work with us to sharpen our performance as an institution," Warsh said in a statement Thursday. "The goal is straightforward: to ensure the Fed is best positioned to achieve our objectives in this consequential time."
The task forces include one each for the Fed's two primary responsibilities -- the labor market and inflation -- as well as groups dedicated to economic data, public communications and the Fed's bond portfolio. Each will be led by three outside advisers.
Few of the task-force members come from outside the expert class that has long driven Washington policy conversations -- except for the panel on jobs and the workforce. That group will be led by Marc Andreessen, a top venture capitalist who has been an outspoken supporter of the second Trump administration; Chad Jones, a Stanford professor who has worked with AI powerhouse Anthropic, and a Microsoft executive who leads the XBOX videogames division.
Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 09, 2026 15:26 ET (19:26 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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