Fed nominee Michael Barr calls inflation ‘far too high’

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Barr, President Joe Biden’s pick to be the Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator, pledged Thursday to help reduce high inflation and provide “clear rules” to govern financial innovation. “I would be strongly committed to bringing down inflation to the Federal Reserve’s target” of 2%, Barr said in testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, which is considering his nomination. Barr, who was a top Treasury Department official during the Obama administration, helped design the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulations after the devastating 2008 financial crisis. He is now the dean of the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.