Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Names Egon Zakrajšek Director of Economic Research
Macroeconomist brings extensive experience in monetary economics, banking studies, and finance
Egon Zakrajšek, Ph.D., will be the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s next Director of Research, effective in early fall of this year. Zakrajšek currently serves as senior advisor in the monetary and economic department of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. He previously held senior roles in the division of Monetary Affairs at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C.
Zakrajšek’s appointment follows a comprehensive search that garnered applications from highly qualified internal and external candidates. He succeeds Geoffrey Tootell, who retired earlier this year.
As Executive Vice President and Director of Research, Zakrajšek will lead the Research division’s staff, serve as chief economic advisor to President and CEO Susan M. Collins, provide counsel on the economic outlook and monetary policymaking, attend meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee, and serve on the Bank’s Executive Committee.
“Egon is a thoughtful, engaging, widely published economist with a breadth of expertise and insight,” said President Collins. “He will play a central role in our work to ensure that the economy is vibrant and inclusive, characterized by price stability and maximum employment.” Collins added that Zakrajšek “will be a dynamic leader for our talented economics team, helping their excellent work have even greater impact as they support policymaking, research and analysis, and thought leadership.” She said, “I look forward to working with Egon as we continue to build on our tradition of rigorous empirical research at the Boston Fed, and our commitment to public service to New England and the nation.”
Born in Slovenia and a naturalized U.S. citizen, Zakrajšek has been with the Bank for International Settlements since 2019. Prior to that, he spent nearly 25 years in the Federal Reserve System, beginning his career in 1995 in the Research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In 1999, he joined the division of Monetary Affairs at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington D.C. and in 2007 was appointed to the Board’s official staff. Between 2007 and 2019, he held a succession of senior roles in the division, most recently as a senior adviser.
Zakrajšek holds a Ph.D. in economics from New York University and a B.A. in economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his policy and research interests focus on macro-finance, banking, inflation dynamics, and monetary policy. His research has been published in academic journals including the American Economic Review, the Journal of Monetary Economics; and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. He is currently a research fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, as well as at the Centre for Finance, Credit and Macroeconomics at the University of Nottingham. In addition to his extensive policy experience, he has also taught economics at Columbia and Johns Hopkins universities.
The Boston Federal Reserve Bank, one of 12 regional reserve banks, serves the First Federal Reserve District, which includes all of New England except Fairfield County, Connecticut. Within the district, the Bank monitors local economic conditions to aid in the formulation of monetary policy, engages in outreach to promote economic growth and community revitalization, supervises banks and bank holding companies, and provides financial services to facilitate banking operations.
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