MiB: Growing up with Central Bankers

April 28, 2020 10:30am by

This week, we speak with Christopher Whalen, an investment banker and former Federal Reserve researcher. He is the founder and President of Whalen Global Advisors, and the author of most recently, Ford Men: From Inspiration to Enterprise.

Whalen grew up in D.C. — his father was a speechwriter for Richard Nixon and an advisor to Ronald Reagan. Both parents were politically active in the GOP at a time when the Capitol was a town of Democrats. He met and spent time with several Federal Reserve Chairmen, including Arthur Burns, Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan.

Early in his career, he worked at the Federal Reserve, eventually supervising Citibanks international credit operations at the Fed. He was in the Investment Banking and Fixed Income departments of Bear Stears before launching his own firm.

Whalen explains the mechanics of how the Federal Reserve provides both credit and liquidity to both the bank and fixed income markets. His concern is that a third or more people who have requested a forbearance on their mortgages will eventually default. The consequences will not be pretty.

His favorite books are here; A transcript of our conversation is available here.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including the podcast extras, on Apple iTunes, Spotify, Overcast, Google, Bloomberg, and Stitcher. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Next week, we speak with Jim Chanos, famed short seller and founder Kynikos Associates. Chanos helped to expose a number of financial frauds, most famously Enron, Baldwin-United, and Drexel Burnham.

 

 

 

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Posted Under