Neel Tushar Kashkari George W. Bush administration archives, February 27, 2006. Hosted a Archives.gov Accessed January 19, 2014. (born July 30, 1973) is an American banker, economist and politician who is the president of the
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
Troubled Asset Relief Program
The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President ...
(TARP) that was a major component of the U.S. government's response to the
Financial crisis of 2007–2008
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of ...
Governor of California
The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard.
Established in the Constitution of California, t ...
in the 2014 election.
Born and raised in Ohio, and educated at the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...
, Kashkari worked initially as an aerospace engineer. After attending business school at the
Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...
of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...
, he became an
investment banker
Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...
, covering the information technology security sector for Goldman Sachs.
Henry Paulson
Henry Merritt Paulson Jr. (born March 28, 1946) is an American banker and financier who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 2006 to 2009. Prior to his role in the Department of the Treasury, Paulson was the Chairman ...
, the former head of Goldman, and then
Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
subprime mortgage crisis
The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It was triggered by a large decline in US home prices after the coll ...
that preceded it, most notably administering the TARP.
Kashkari left government and began working for
Pimco
PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Company, LLC) is an American investment management firm focusing on active fixed income management worldwide. PIMCO manages investments in many asset classes such as fixed income, equities, commodities, ass ...
in 2009, leading that company's push into the
equities
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
market. He resigned from Pimco in January 2013 to explore a run for public office. One year later, he announced his candidacy for
Governor of California
The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard.
Established in the Constitution of California, t ...
. He came in second in California's
nonpartisan blanket primary
A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party. ...
but lost the
general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
to incumbent governor
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
.
He was named the new president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve November 10, 2015, succeeding Narayana Kocherlakota who announced his resignation in June.
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...
'', October 7, 2008. Accessed December 30, 2013. in
Akron
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city pro ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
, to Sheila Kashkari, a
pathologist
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in t ...
University of Akron
The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...
The Plain Dealer
''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday.
As of Ma ...
'', February 11, 2014. Accessed February 11, 2014. His parents are Kashmiri Hindus who were born and raised in Srinagar in the
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
n state of Jammu and Kashmir and immigrated to the United States in 1964. They settled in Stow, a suburb of Akron, where Neel Kashkari grew up.
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...
'', October 11, 2008. Accessed December 30, 2013. His parents were well known within the local community of Indian
Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', October 8, 2008. Accessed December 30, 2013. is a
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
specializing in
infectious diseases
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable d ...
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'', October 8, 2008. Accessed December 30, 2013. Growing up, Neel's parents and sister were liberal, but his
free-market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...
views led him to identify more with the Republican Party.
Kashkari attended
Stow–Munroe Falls High School
Stow–Munroe Falls High School (SMFHS) is a Public school (government funded), public Secondary education in the United States#High schools, high school in Stow, Ohio, United States. In the 2014–15 school year, the school had an enrollment of ...
before transferring to the
Western Reserve Academy
, motto_translation = Light and Truth
, address = 115 College Street
, city = Hudson
, state = Ohio
, zipcode = 44236-2999
, country = United ...
. He graduated in 1991 with honors in mathematics and was elected graduation speaker. In 2009, he described his high school grades as not good enough to apply to top-tier universities.
Kashkari earned bachelor’s (1995) and master’s (1998) degrees in
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...
from the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...
. He was the team leader for the mechanical engineering component of the school's entry in the 1997
Sunrayce
The American Solar Challenge (ASC), previously known as the North American Solar Challenge and Sunrayce, is a solar car race across the United States. In the race, teams from colleges and universities throughout North America design, build, test ...
, a solar-powered vehicle race.
Career
Private sector
After completing his master's degree, Kashkari moved to
Redondo Beach
Redondo Beach (Spanish for ''round'') is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent Beach Cities, b ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
, and worked as an engineer for TRW Inc., a contractor for
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...
. There he worked on a stabilizing component for the
James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope which conducts infrared astronomy. As the largest optical telescope in space, its high resolution and sensitivity allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble ...
.
Kashkari left TRW to enter the
Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...
of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...
, earning an MBA in 2002. At Wharton he was president of the Finance Club and was part of the student organizing team for the annual Wharton Finance Conference.
Kashkari interned at the investment bank Goldman Sachs during the summer between his two academic years at Wharton. After graduation from Wharton in 2002, he joined Goldman's
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'', October 13, 2008. Accessed December 30, 2013. covering software companies in the investment banking division. In this role, he was part of the team that advised clients on mergers and acquisitions, as well as other financial matters, until leaving the firm in 2006.
U.S. Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and th ...
. Biography of Neel Kashkari, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Economics Archived from the original at the Internet Archive on January 18, 2009. Accessed December 30, 2013.
He was a regional finalist for the
White House Fellows
The White House Fellows program is a federal fellowship program established via Executive Order by President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1964, based upon a suggestion from John W. Gardner, then the president of Carnegie C ...
Akron Beacon Journal
The ''Akron Beacon Journal'' is a morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States. Owned by Gannett, it is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper's coverage focuses on local news. The Beacon J ...
'', April 11, 2009. Accessed January 6, 2014.
Treasury Department
In May 2006
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...
George W. Bush announced his intention to appoint Paulson as
Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
. Kashkari contacted Paulson and asked to join him at Treasury. Despite not knowing Kashkari well, Paulson agreed to meet with him, and much later offered him a job as a policy generalist. Kashkari accepted, and then Paulson remembered to confirm that Kashkari was a Republican. After the U.S. Senate confirmed Paulson, he and Kashkari started at Treasury on the same day. Kashkari was one of several Goldman employees who followed Paulson to Treasury.
Kashkari began as a special assistant to Paulson working on
energy policy
Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy conversion, distribution and use as well as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to cont ...
Twenty in Ten
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007Pub.L. 110-140, originally named the Clean Energy Act of 2007, is an Act of Congress concerning the energy policy of the United States. As part of the Democratic Party's 100-Hour Plan during the ...
" plan to promote
energy conservation
Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
, particularly infrastructure development. In November 2007, Bush nominated Kashkari to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Economics and Development. The
U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
ThinkProgress
''ThinkProgress'' was an American progressive news website that was active from 2005 to 2019. It was a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP Action), a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Founded ...
, October 6, 2008. Accessed January 2, 2014.
2008 financial crisis
By the summer 2007, concerns over the credit quality of private-label securitizations, underwriting standards and institutional solvency accelerated. The value of unconventional
financial instruments
Financial instruments are monetary contracts between parties. They can be created, traded, modified and settled. They can be cash (currency), evidence of an ownership interest in an entity or a contractual right to receive or deliver in the form ...
backed by U.S.
subprime mortgages
The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It was triggered by a large decline in US home prices after the col ...
declined sharply as it became clear that many of the borrowers would continue to default on the mortgages. This caused a housing glut and
crisis
A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...
as the banks holding the mortgages saw their assets decline in value and rushed to
foreclose
Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan.
Formally, a mor ...
the loans. This ultimately intensified into a
global financial crisis
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
with broad implications.
Kashkari played important roles in several episodes of the crisis. He led Treasury's participation in the
Hope Now Alliance
The Hope Now Alliance is a cooperative effort between the US government, counselors, investors, and lenders to help homeowners who may not be able to pay their mortgages. Created in 2007 in response to the subprime mortgage crisis, the alliance ...
, a mortgage industry initiative coordinated by the federal government that aimed to reduce foreclosures by modifying loan terms on a loan-by-loan basis. In March 2008 he represented Treasury at negotiations that led ultimately to the federally sponsored takeover and rescue of the investment bank
Bear Stearns
The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The c ...
by
JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the w ...
. He was in charge of Treasury's (ultimately unsuccessful) efforts to create a market in the U.S. for covered bonds, whose value would continue to be guaranteed by the issuing bank after the bank had sold them. He also worked closely with Paulson on Treasury's
takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...
of the
government-sponsored enterprise
A government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) is a type of financial services corporation created by the United States Congress. Their intended function is to enhance the flow of credit to targeted sectors of the economy, to make those segments of th ...
s
Fannie Mae
The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the N ...
and
Freddie Mac
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is a publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.bailout
A bailout is the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy.
A bailout differs from the term ''bail-in'' (coined in 2010) under which the bondholders or depositors of global sys ...
of
American International Group
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. , AIG companies employed 49,600 people.https://www.aig.com/content/dam/aig/amer ...
on September 16.
In March 2008, Kashkari began to worry that, if the Bush administration never received the authority it needed to deal with the growing crisis, the next administration would blame them for everything wrong in the economy. Paulson scoffed at this idea, particularly Kashkari's speculation that
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
Iran hostage crisis
On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took ove ...
.
TARP
In early 2008, Paulson directed Kashkari and fellow Treasury aide Phillip Swagel to write a plan to recapitalize the banking system in case the crisis worsened. The plan called for Congress to authorize Treasury to spend $500 billion to buy mortgage-backed securities from troubled banks, replacing them on banks' balance sheets with safe,
liquid
A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, an ...
Treasury bills. This would prevent runs on the banks and encourage them to lend. The plan was conceived as an alternative to proposals from the staff of the
House Financial Services Committee
The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...
, then led by
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
Representative
Barney Frank
Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committ ...
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, a ...
on September 15, 2008, the
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, often called the "bank bailout of 2008", was proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, passed by the 110th United States Congress, and signed into law by President George W. Bush. It became l ...
(EESA) was enacted on October 3. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress voted for the law. Kashkari was one of several Paulson aides who was heavily involved in the crafting the legislation. Based in large part on Kashkari and Swagel's recapitalization plan, the EESA created the
Troubled Asset Relief Program
The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President ...
(TARP), a $700 billion bailout fund for financial institutions threatened with collapse. Kashkari initially proposed a $1 trillion fund, but Paulson vetoed that number as too large. Kashkari came up with the lesser figure of $700 billion by taking 5% of the $14 trillion in then-outstanding mortgages in the United States.
To administer TARP, the EESA created within the Treasury Department a new Office of Financial Stability to be headed by an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability, who would be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. However, it also specified that the Treasury Secretary could designate an interim Assistant Secretary to run the office. Kashkari first came to widespread public attention on October 6, 2008, when Paulson named him to this position.Patrick Rucker Treasury names rescue program chief
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was est ...
, October 6, 2008. Accessed January 3, 2014. During his time running TARP he retained his title as Assistant Secretary for International Economics and Development, but his international affairs responsibilities were delegated to another Treasury official.
Noticing a lack of necessary expertise in investment within Treasury, Kashkari recruited new staff for the program, some from government and others from industry, ultimately hiring about 100 people by January 2009. Kashkari also chaired the five-member investment committee within Treasury that decided which banks would receive TARP money.
With Bush scheduled to leave office on January 20, 2009, following the November 2008 election, Kashkari's appointment was initially viewed as temporary. There were even plans to replace him before Bush left office. However, after Obama won the election, his
transition
Transition or transitional may refer to:
Mathematics, science, and technology Biology
* Transition (genetics), a point mutation that changes a purine nucleotide to another purine (A ↔ G) or a pyrimidine nucleotide to another pyrimidine (C ↔ ...
team asked Kashkari to remain at Treasury after the
inauguration
In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaug ...
for a limited period. He left the Treasury Department on May 1, 2009, replaced at the helm of TARP by Herbert M. Allison.Devin Leonard Neel Kashkari's quiet path to Pimco ''The New York Times'', December 31, 2009. Accessed January 5, 2014.
During his time heading TARP, Kashkari was frequently called to testify before Congressional oversight panels. The House members would often question him hostilely over the politically unpopular program, but at least one, Representative
Dennis Kucinich
Dennis John Kucinich (; born October 8, 1946) is an American politician. A U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, he was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2004 and 2008. He ran for ...
, assured Kashkari privately that he thought Kashkari was doing a great job. Another public critic, Representative
Gregory Meeks
Gregory Weldon Meeks (born September 25, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who has been a U.S. representative from New York since 1998. He is a member of the Democratic Party and has chaired the House Committee on Foreign Affairs sinc ...
, later thanked Kashkari for his service. Kashkari also won praise from Paulson and
Timothy Geithner
Timothy Franz Geithner (; born August 18, 1961) is a former American central banker who served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. He was the President of the Federal Reserve Bank ...
Neil Barofsky
Neil M. Barofsky (born 1970), a partner in the Litigation Department of national law firm Jenner & Block LLP, focuses his practice on white collar investigations, complex commercial litigation, monitorships and examinerships. Immediately before j ...
, who oversaw TARP within Treasury as a special inspector general, commended Kashkari's commitment to the job but criticized his actions.
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a p ...
, who headed TARP's
Congressional Oversight Panel
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act created the Troubled Asset Relief Program to administer up to $700 billion. Several oversight mechanisms are established by the bill, including the Congressional Oversight Panel, the Special Inspector Gen ...
, later criticized Kashkari for allegedly promising to focus on smaller banks shortly before Treasury announced additional measures to bail out
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
. Kashkari later said that Bush not running for reelection allowed the government to "do things that were deeply unpopular but we knew were the right thing."
Return to California
One week after his resignation, he and his wife moved to a cabin in rural
Northern California
Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
near
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake ...
as part of what he called a " detox" from Washington. He worked on home improvement projects and helped Paulson write a memoir.Laura Blumenfeld The $700 billion man ''Washington Post'', December 6, 2009. Accessed January 5, 2014.
In December 2009 Kashkari was named a managing director at the investment firm
Pimco
PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Company, LLC) is an American investment management firm focusing on active fixed income management worldwide. PIMCO manages investments in many asset classes such as fixed income, equities, commodities, ass ...
, in charge of new investment initiatives. Pimco, which had traditionally focused on bonds, hired him to broaden its focus into
equities
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
; Pimco later named him global head of equities. Kashkari had met Bill Gross, Pimco's co-founder, in December 2007 as part of his work at Treasury. Kashkari's move to Pimco attracted attention because Pimco benefited from the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, though it did not receive TARP funds. The six equity
mutual funds
A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV ...
Pimco launched under Kashkari all underperformed benchmarks in 2012. Kashkari attributed this to the funds hedging risk, which decreases returns when stock prices increase.David Wessel, Kirsten Grind TARP czar to take shot in politics ''The Wall Street Journal'', January 23, 2013. Accessed January 5, 2014.
Kashkari resigned from Pimco in January 2013, citing a desire to return to public service. He was expected to announce a campaign for elected office.
In 2015, the Wall Street ''Journal'' said that "the performance of imco equityfunds Mr. Kashkari launched was spotty ndthe firm has since closed some of" them.
Politics
2014 California gubernatorial campaign
Kashkari has said he first considered running for
Governor of California
The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard.
Established in the Constitution of California, t ...
after Republican nominee
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusett ...
Business Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German pub ...
, February 15, 2014. Retrieved on February 16, 2014. He spent the year after his resignation from Pimco preparing to campaign in the 2014 gubernatorial election, touring the state, hiring a staff, and meeting with potential donors. He announced his candidacy on January 21, 2014, citing jobs and education as his top priorities. It was his first run for elected office. He finished second to incumbent governor
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
in the
nonpartisan blanket primary
A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party. ...
and lost to Brown in the November general election. After the campaign, Kashkari published "Lessons from the Trail," a firsthand account of what he learned from his gubernatorial campaign to help future candidates.
Primary election
Brown was widely expected to finish first in the primary, so Kashkari's principal opponent at this stage was his main rival for second place, Republican state assemblymanTim Donnelly. Kashkari was seen as a fiscal conservative and social moderate, while Donnelly identified with the right-wing
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...
.
Kashkari enjoyed a significant funding advantage over Donnelly. He raised $1 million within two weeks of announcing his candidacy and went on to raise a total of US$4.1 million, including $2 million of his own money. Republican donors Charles Munger Jr. and Robert Addison Day also spent $400,000 supporting Kashkari through an independent expenditure committee. Donnelly raised only $447,000 in 2014.
For most of the race, Kashkari trailed Donnelly in public opinion polls. Kashkari's moderate views on social issues, involvement with TARP, and vote for Obama in 2008 were unpopular with many Republican voters, who were more enthusiastic about Donnelly. Other Republicans feared that if Donnelly advanced to the general election he would not only lose to Brown but also hurt other Republicans running for office because of his narrow appeal to white conservatives, staunch right-wing views, inflammatory rhetoric, and criminal record. The perceived threat from Donnelly attracted endorsements for Kashkari from national Republicans including Romney,
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...
,
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th ...
, and
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on Augu ...
, as well as California Republicans including
Pete Wilson
Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California betw ...
and
Darrell Issa
Darrell Edward Issa ( ; born November 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for California's 50th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...
. These advantages allowed Kashkari not to campaign farther right than he wanted to.
Kashkari's fundraising advantage allowed him pay for more advertising in the last weeks of the race. The first poll showing him ahead of Donnelly came out days before the election. In the June 3 primary, Kashkari came in second with 19% of the vote, and Donnelly came in third with 15%. Brown beat them both, with 55%.
General election
Brown, a Democrat, was long considered the favorite to win the general election. His approval ratings were high, and as of the end of the primary his campaign had US$21 million. Kashkari, by contrast, spent almost all his campaign money to beat Donnelly, and additional financial support from the national or state Republican Parties was unlikely. Kashkari cited George W. Bush's upset victory over
Ann Richards
Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, w ...
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, wh ...
as a model for an upset against a popular Democratic governor.
Kashkari lost the November 4, 2014 general election to Governor Jerry Brown by approximately 1.4 million votes, with Brown winning 60% of the vote. Brown won the largest gubernatorial victory since
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
**Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal enter ...
despite running a low-key campaign.
Record of voting
The ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...
'' reported in January 2014 that, since 1998, Kashkari had been eligible to vote in 23 elections in California and
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...
but had only voted in 13 (i.e., 57%) of them. His campaign disputed some aspects of the reporting and said that Kashkari's Treasury Department service proves his commitment to civic life. Kashkari later acknowledged his imperfect voting record.
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...
'', November 14, 2013. Accessed January 5, 2014. In a 2008 speech to the
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. ...
, Kashkari described himself as "a
free-market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'', November 18, 2013. Accessed January 5, 2014. He has called for cutting
Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
. In 2012, he voted against California's Proposition 30, which raised taxes in the state, and for Proposition 32, which would have weakened
labor unions
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
Sacramento Bee
''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...
'', December 9, 2013. Accessed January 5, 2014. In a March 2014 interview, he praised
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
policies
Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...
limiting
collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The ...
.
On social issues, he has described himself as
libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
and "a different kind of Republican", supporting
abortion rights
Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...
,
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
, and a path to legal status for illegal immigrants. He voted against California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in 2008. In 2013, he was one of 131 Republicans who signed a pro-marriage equality '' amicus curiae'' brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court as part of ''
Hollingsworth v. Perry
''Hollingsworth v. Perry'' was a series of United States federal court cases that re-legalized same-sex marriage in the state of California. The case began in 2009 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which found that ...
'', the case in which the final appeal against the previously-found unconstitutionality of Proposition 8 was rejected for lack of standing. Kashkari owns four guns and considers waiting periods and background checks before purchasing a firearm to be reasonable.
On environmental issues, he voted against California's Proposition 23, which would have suspended the
state law State law refers to the law of a federated state, as distinguished from the law of the federation of which it is a part. It is used when the constituent components of a federation are themselves called states. Federations made up of provinces, can ...
that limits greenhouse gas emissions. He believes climate change is real and man-made. He has spoken positively of
fracking
Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frac ...
Mitch Daniels
Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician. A Republican, Daniels served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. Since 2013, Daniels has been p ...
, and
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...
as political mentors. He voted for Obama in the 2008 presidential election and Romney in the 2012 election.
In March 2014, Kashkari proposed waiving state income taxes for 10 years for businesses that move to California with at least 100 jobs; waiving state income taxes for California companies that build new manufacturing plants in the state; expanding
hydraulic fracturing
Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frac ...
(fracking) of oil deposits; reducing environmental regulation; and increasing water storage in response to the state's ongoing drought. Economists and political experts interviewed by the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' were skeptical of the plan's chances in the Democratic-dominated
California Legislature
The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislature ...
and of its potential effectiveness were it to be passed.
In January 2020, Kashkari and Alan Page proposed amending a portion of the
Minnesota State Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Minnesota was initially approved by the residents of Minnesota Territory in a special election held on October 13, 1857, and was ratified by the United States Senate on May 11, 1858, marking the admittance of Minne ...
to read, "All children have a fundamental right to a quality public education that fully prepares them."
At a January 2021 Minneapolis Federal Reserve event on racism and the economy, Kashkari commented on the contrast between how the rioters at the U.S. Capitol were treated compared to black Americans, saying, "If those were Black militants, armed militants, storming the U.S. Capitol, I think they’d all be dead right now
. . .
The ellipsis (, also known informally as dot dot dot) is a series of dots that indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning. The plural is ellipses. The term origin ...
That is the most stark example of racism and disparities in our society.”
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
In early November 2015 Kashkari was named president and
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...
of the Minneapolis Fed. He was chosen by the Minneapolis bank board (excepting representatives from the financial industry), approved 5–0 by the
Federal Reserve Board
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the m ...
in Washington and assumed the Minneapolis position on January 1, 2016. With the presidents of the
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
(
Patrick T. Harker
Patrick Timothy Harker (born November 19, 1958) is the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Harker previously served as the President of University of Delaware. He was the dean of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsyl ...
) regional Fed banks, Kashkari will become the fourth sitting regional Fed chief to have Goldman Sachs on his resume. Kaplan and Harker both assumed their positions in 2015.Derby, Michael S. "Neel Kashkari Named New Minneapolis Fed President" Wall Street ''Journal'', November 10, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
On February 16, 2016 while giving a speech at the Brookings Institution, Kashkari recommended that in order to stave another potential financial meltdown, the big banks should be broken up, saying, "I believe the biggest banks are still too big to fail and continue to pose a significant, ongoing risk to our economy."Appelbaum, Binyamin The New York Times, February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...
'', November 15, 2013. Accessed January 5, 2014. He said in 2009 that he began praying while working on TARP, having been especially affected when a colleague had a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...
at work.
Kashkari met his ex-wife Minal Jeshanker (now Kotterman) in college at the University of Illinois. They married in a traditional North Indian Hindu ceremony in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...
, December 2, 2013. Accessed January 5, 2014. and later described the split as amicable. They have no children.
Kashkari married Christine Ong in California’s
Sugar Pine Point State Park
Ed Z'berg Sugar Pine Point State Park is a state park in California in the United States. It occupies nearly two miles of the western shore of Lake TahoeList of Indian Americans
Indian Americans are citizens or residents of the United States of America who trace their family descent to India. This article is a list of notable Indian Americans.
Academics
Nobel Prize recipients
* Har Gobind Khorana (1922-2011), Nobel ...
Too Big to Fail
"Too big to fail" (TBTF) and "too big to jail" is a theory in banking and finance that asserts that certain corporations, particularly financial institutions, are so large and so interconnected that their failure would be disastrous to the grea ...