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Lisa Cook was confirmed on Tuesday night to serve on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, making her the first Black woman to sit on the panel in its 108-year history.
According to NBC News, Cook was confirmed in a 51-50 party-line vote, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie.
In the same tradition of Blacks being hired to save a sinking ship, last week, the Fed raised its core interest rate as it battles inflation levels that are now at 40-year highs.
Lisa Cook is more than qualified for the job at hand.
Cook, an economics and international relations professor at Michigan State University, was elected this year to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s board of directors.
Lisa Cook also served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration and was a member of the Biden transition team.
Her research interests include economic development, innovation, financial institutions and markets, and economic history, and she has written about how Jim Crow laws affected the long-term growth of the U.S. economy.
In a November 2020 article published by The New York Times, Lisa Cook wrote about how “discrimination inflicts a staggering cost on the entire economy,” citing research that showed the far-reaching economic costs of racism.
Cook remains supported by Dems and criticized by GOP.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., described Lisa Cook as “eminently qualified for the position” shortly before Tuesday’s vote.
“She’s a great Georgian. She comes from a family chock-full of achievers, and she’s going to do a great job,” he said.
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., insisted that Cook had a “glaring” lack of monetary policy experience, a history of “extreme” left-wing political advocacy and “hostility” toward opposing viewpoints.
While it was a longshot that any Republican would support Lisa Cook, nonetheless, a Black woman is now positioned to influence how America spends its bag.