Chicago Fed names ex-Obamba adviser Goolsbee as next leader

Austan Goolsbee, who was a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, has been chosen as the next president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the regional Fed bank announced

Austan Goolsbee, who was a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, has been chosen as the next president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the regional Fed bank announced Thursday.

Goolsbee, 53, an economics professor at the University of Chicago who is a frequent commentator in opinion columns and television appearances, will succeed Charles Evans on Jan. 9. Evans is retiring after 15 years as head of the Chicago Fed, after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65.

As head of a regional Fed bank, Goolsbee will have a vote on the central bank’s interest rate decisions next year. Each year, four of the regional bank presidents rotate into voting positions on the Fed's rate-setting committee.

Goolsbee was chair of the Obama White House's Council of Economic Advisers from 2010 to 2011 after having served as a member of the council since 2009. He received a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.