| Headline: Michael J Prell Source: Euromoney Date: September 2000 Author: James Smalhout more on People Former director, research & statistics division, US Federal Reserve Michael J Prell, a long-time central bank mandarin, spent the better part of the last 30 years arguing – politely, of course – the Fine points of the substance and presentation of Federal Reserve policy with the likes of Alan Greenspan, Paul Volcker and Arthur Burns. He retired in July at the age of 55 after heading the largest group of staff economists – numbering 120 – at the Fed in Washington.
His arrival at the Fed was not promising. Prell’s trademark beard and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, spelled culture clash at the start of his career. Banks in America’s Midwest weren’t exactly rolling out the welcome mat for fuzzy faces in those days. And the Kansas City Fed, where Prell began, wasn’t inclined to test the limits of anybody’s hospitality. The word went out, “Don’t let him leave the building”, instantly turning Prell into a true Fed insider in more ways than one. |