2026-05-05
5 分钟The Economist.
Hi, John Prudeau here.
I host Checks and Balance, our podcast on US politics.
Welcome to Editor's Picks.
Here's an article from the latest edition of The Economist, handpicked by our team and read aloud.
I hope you enjoy it.
It is no secret that Kevin Walsh has long coveted the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve.
He has at last achieved his goal.
The Department of Justice said on April 24th that it would drop its criminal investigation into Jerome Powell,
the current chairman, a step a swing vote senator had demanded before advancing Mr Walsh's nomination.
The new man is now all but certain to be confirmed.
The press conference Mr Powell gave on April 29th should be his last in the role.
Mr. Walsh was not the economist's preferred choice to become the world's most important central banker.
In chasing the job, he changed from a long-time inflation hawk into a rate-cutting dove.
He is not as wonkish as Chris Waller, another erstwhile candidate,
has little training in economics, and has for over a decade made over-egged and analytically hazy criticisms
of the central bank, building a manifesto for the chairmanship that lacks rigour.
Sometimes, too, he has behaved cynically.
In his confirmation hearing on April 21st,
he conspicuously refused to rebut the lie that the presidential election in 2020 was stolen from Donald Trump.