KC Fed names new chief economist

Joe Gruber

Joe Gruber will join the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City as executive vice president and director of research. He will also join its management committee and serve as chief economist and policy advisor to KC Fed President Esther George.

Gruber comes from the Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors, where he served as deputy director of the International Finance Division. He joined the board in 2001 as an economist in the advanced foreign economies section, analyzing economic developments in key U.S. trading partners. In 2004, he transferred to the trade and quantitative studies section and became chief of the section in 2008 with responsibility for coverage of oil markets, commodity prices and U.S. trade flows.

Gruber joined the board’s official staff in 2012. During his time there, he also served as a special advisor to the board, first for Vice Chair Stanley Fischer and more recently for Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles. In 2015, he was a visiting senior advisor in the U.S. Executive Director’s Office at the International Monetary Fund.

“Joe’s experience will be a strong asset for the Kansas City Fed and will provide important perspective for my role on the Federal Open Market Committee,” George said. “We are looking forward to welcoming Joe to the Tenth District and look forward to his leadership of our Economic Research division.”

Gruber has Bachelor of Arts degrees in international studies and economics from the University of Washington, Seattle, and a Ph.D. in economics from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.