Press conference exchange between GREG ROBB and Fed Chair Jerome Powell:

user: Thank you, Fed Chairman. Greg Robb from MarketWatch. I just wondered if you’ve done any reflection on, on your own actions during this crisis and leading up to it over the last—since you’ve been Fed Chairman, I think I’ve heard you say a couple of times that you deferred to the Vice Chair for Supervision. Do you think that was the right way to go about this? And, yeah, comments on that. Thank you.

assistant: Sure. So let me say, first of all, I’ve been Chair of the Board for five-plus years now, and I fully recognize that we made mistakes. I think we’ve learned some new things as well, and we need to do better. And, as I mentioned, I thought the report was unflinching and appropriately so. I welcome it. And I agree with and will support those recommendations. And I do feel that I’m personally accountable to do what I can to foster measures that will address the problems. So, on, on the Vice Chair for Supervision, you know, the place to start is, is the statutory role, which is quite unusual. The Vice Chair, it says, shall deploy policy recommendations—“develop policy recommendations for the Board regarding supervision and regulation of depository institution... companies..., and shall oversee the supervision and regulation of such firms.” So this is Congress establishing a four-year term for someone else on the Board—not, not the Chair—as Vice Chair for Supervision who really gets to set the agenda for supervision and regulation for the Board of Governors. Congress wanted that person to be—to have political accountability for developing that agenda. So the way it works—the way it has worked in practice for me is, I’ve had a good working relationship. I give my, my counsel, my input privately, and that’s—I offer that. And I have good conversations, and I try to contribute constructively. I respect the authority that Congress has deferred on that person, including working with, with Vice Chair Barr and, and his predecessor. And I think that’s the way it’s supposed to work, and that’s appropriate. I, I believe that’s what the law requires. And, you know—but, but it isn’t—I wouldn’t say it’s a matter of complete deference. It’s more, I have a—I have a role in, in presenting my views and discussing—having an intelligent discussion about what’s going on and why. And, you know, that’s, that’s my input. But, ultimately, that person does get to set the agenda and gets to take things to the Board of Governors and really, in supervision, has sole authority over supervision.

user: Just wondered if you have any regrets? Or was there anything that, you know—decisions that maybe you regret now in light of what’s happened?

assistant: I’ve had a few, sure. I mean, you know, who doesn’t look back and think that you could have done things differently? But, honestly, you don’t—you don’t get to do that. Again, my focus is on what—control the controllable. As one of my great mentors used to always say, “Control the controllable.” What we control now is, make a fair assessment, learn the right lessons, figure out what the fixes are, and implement them. And, and I think that, that Vice Chair Barr’s report is an excellent first step in that, but we’ve got to follow through.