Skip to main content

William B. English

  • The Fed’s Many-Headed Dilemma

    According to Prof. William B. English, when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed and sent ripples through the financial system, the Federal Reserve’s challenge of pursuing maximum employment and low inflation “got even harder.”

    The Federal Reserve building seen past caution tape
  • Will the Fed Keep Raising Rates?

    We asked Prof. William English, a former Fed official, to interpret the announcements at the Federal Open Market Committee’s monthly meeting last week.

    Federal Reserve Board chairman Jerome Powell answering questions at a news conference.
  • Controlling the Virus Is the Key to Reducing Inflation

    Yale SOM’s William English, a former economist at the Federal Reserve, explains the role of COVID-19 in the spike in prices, considers how policymakers can respond, and confronts the sheer uncertainty of the times.

    Groceries at the register at a supermarket
  • Video: Why You Should Care about the Fed’s Inflation Policy

    William English, a former Fed official who is now a professor in the practice of finance at Yale SOM, explains why the Fed shifted its approach to balancing inflation and employment, and what the change means for the economy.

    Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill, winking
  • A Federal Program Is Supposed to Keep Midsize Businesses Afloat. Why Isn’t It Reaching Them?

    Yale SOM’s William English explains how the Main Street Lending Program fits into the array of federal stimulus efforts and offers proposals for making it work better.

    The door to a business with a sign reading "Closed due to cororavirus until further notice"
  • Should We Worry about the Trillion-Dollar Deficit?

    We asked William English, a professor in the practice of finance and a former economist at the Federal Reserve, how the deficit and the ballooning national debt affect the economy and the ability of Congress and the Fed to fight future recessions.

    A pile of bound copies of the federal budget
  • Three Questions: Prof. William B. English on Markets and the Fed

    We asked William B. English, a Yale faculty member and former Fed official, about how the Fed should respond to recent ups and downs in the stock market.

    Image illustrating market reaction to a statement by Fed Chair Jerome Powell
  • Are We Asking Too Much of Central Banks?

    Paul Tucker, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, says that giving central bankers too much power can lead to dangerous unintended consequences.

    Mario Draghi (center), president of the European Central Bank, during a news conference in December 2017. Photo: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
  • Three Questions: Prof. William B. English on the Debut of the New Fed Chair

    We asked Prof. William B. English, who spent more than two decades as an economist at the Fed, to interpret new Fed chair Jerome Powell's first Open Market Committee meeting.