Fed Chair Kevin Warsh names Marc Andreessen, ex-Walmart CEO and others to lead task forces

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, economist Raj Chetty and former Bank of England governor Mervyn King are among a slate of names released by the Federal Reserve Thursday that will help develop recommended changes to the central bank’s operations.They are among the co-leaders of five different task forces announced by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh last month.The other leaders are a mix of public officials and business leaders.Warsh called for “regime change” at the Fed last year while he was under consideration by the Trump administration to replace former chair Jerome Powell.

Warsh has sought to communicate less about the Fed’s thinking on interest rates and has said he wants to reduce the central bank’s roughly $6.7 trillion in holdings of government bonds.Yet it’s not yet clear how transformative the task forces will be.Most of the directors announced Thursday are leading figures in economics and business, rather than longtime Fed critics.

Warsh’s use of task forces, Fed-watchers say, suggest he wants to persuade his fellow Fed officials of any changes rather than impose them.“The US economy has changed significantly over the last generation, and never more so than right now,” Warsh said in a written statement.“Each task force will carefully consider whether policymakers’ means and methods, analytical tools and policy approaches can be improved upon.”The five task forces will each have three co-leaders and will be supported by Fed staff, the central bank said.One of the task forces will focus on how artificial intelligence and other new technologies will affect productivity and jobs.

Warsh has repeatedly said he expects AI to bring about fundamental changes to the US economy.To oversee that task force, Warsh has turned to executives from firms developing AI, including Marc Andreessen, a major investor in crypto firms and AI technology.Asha Sharma, an executive vice president at Microsoft and CEO of its Xbox unit will also co-lead ...