Fed Recruits Raghuram Rajan and Global Experts for Policy Overhaul

Former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan and two other Indian-origin experts have joined a high-profile initiative to reshape the US Federal Reserve’s monetary strategy. Appointed by Chairman Kevin Warsh, these task forces aim to modernize policy following a prolonged period of inflation that challenged the institution’s core objectives.

Editorial·July 16, 2026·reads: 619

Fed Recruits Raghuram Rajan and Global Experts for Policy Overhaul

The appointments include Delhi-born economist Raj Chetty and Microsoft executive Asha Sharma, both joining a broader roster of global thinkers like former Bank of England Governor Mervyn King and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen. The diverse panels are tasked with auditing five critical pillars of central banking: communications, balance sheet policy, economic data utilization, productivity, and the inflation framework.

Rajan, who led the RBI from 2013 to 2016, will focus on the balance sheet policy task force. Alongside Harvard economist Karen Dynan and former Fed Governor Jeremy Stein, he will scrutinize the institutional implications of the Fed's nearly $9 trillion balance sheet. This review comes as the central bank seeks to move past pandemic-era expansion and refine its approach to asset holdings.

Meanwhile, Raj Chetty will co-lead the data task force, applying his expertise in administrative datasets to improve the speed and accuracy of economic signals. Asha Sharma, current CEO of Xbox at Microsoft, will join the productivity and jobs group to evaluate the economic impact of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence. These sweeping reforms represent a deliberate effort by Warsh to invite external perspectives to influence the future of American monetary policy.