Joseph (Joe) Gruber is the executive vice president and director of research for the Bank. He leads the Bank’s Research Division, as well as the staff responsible for Regional Affairs and Community Development and serves as a member of the Executive Leadership Council.

Mr. Gruber joined the Bank in May 2020 after serving 19 years on the Board of Governors. Mr. Gruber previously served as the deputy director of the International Finance Division at the Board. He joined the Board in 2001 as an economist in the Advanced Foreign Economies section analyzing economic developments in key U.S. trading partners. In 2004, he transferred to the Trade and Quantitative Studies section. He became Chief of the section in 2008 with responsibility for the Board’s coverage of oil markets, commodity prices, and U.S. trade flows. Mr. Gruber joined the Board’s official staff in 2012. In 2016, he began serving as a Special Advisor to the Board, first for Vice Chair Stanley Fischer and more recently for Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles.

Mr. Gruber has B.A. degrees in International Studies and Economics from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Johns Hopkins University. His economic research has been published in a number of academic journals including the Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of International Money and Finance, Review of International Economics, and the Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking. He has also taught macroeconomics at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities.

Professional Journals and Books

  • “Interest Rates and the Volatility and Correlation of Commodity Prices” Macroeconomic Dynamics 22(3) (2018) pp. 600-619. (joint with Robert Vigfusson).
  • “Corporate Buybacks and Capital Investment: An International Perspective,” IFDP Notes 2017-04-11. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (joint with Steve Kamin).
  • “The Corporate Saving Glut and the Falloff of Investment Spending in OECD Economies” IMF Economic Review 64(4) (2016) pp. 777-799. (joint with Steve Kamin).
  • “The Dollar in the U.S. International Transactions (USIT) Model,” IFDP Notes 2016-02-08. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (joint with Andrew McCallum and Robert Vigfusson).
  • “Do Low Interest Rates Decrease Commodity Price Volatility?” IFDP Notes 2013-09-26. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (joint with Robert Vigfusson).
  • “Fiscal Positions and Government Bond Yields in OECD Countries” Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking 44(8) (2012) pp.1563-1587 (joint with Steve Kamin).
  • “Do Differences in Financial Development Explain the Global Pattern of Current Account Imbalances?” Review of International Economics 17 (2009) pp. 667-688 (joint with Steve Kamin).
  • “Explaining the Global Pattern of Current Account Imbalances” Journal of International Money and Finance 26 (2007) pp. 500-523 (joint with Steve Kamin).
  • “A Present Value Model of the Habits and the Current Account” Journal of Monetary Economics 51 (2004) pp1495-1507.
  • “The Dynamic Determinants of Food Insufficiency” Papers and Proceedings of the Second Food Security Measurement and Research Conference. February 2001 (joint with Craig Gunderson).

Research Working Papers

  • Leaning Against the Data: Policymaker Communications under State-Based Forward Guidance with Taeyoung Doh and Dongho Song, RWP 22-11
  • “The Corporate Saving Glut in the Aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis” (with Steve Kamin). Federal Reserve International Finance Discussion Paper #1150. 2015.
  • “The Structural Determinants of the U.S. Competitiveness in the Last Decades” (with Del Gatto, Massimo, Filippo Di Mauro, and Ben Mandel) European Central Bank Working Paper Series 1443 (2012).
  • “The Revealed Competitiveness of U.S. Exports” (with Del Gatto, Massimo, Filippo Di Mauro and Ben Mandel) Federal Reserve International Finance Discussion Paper #1026. 2011.
  • “Where are Global and U.S. Trade Heading in the Aftermath of the Trade Collapse” (with Del Gatto, Massimo, Filippo Di Mauro, and Ben Mandel) Federal Reserve International Finance Discussion Paper #1017. 2011.
  • “Productivity and the Phillips Curve in Canada” Federal Reserve International Finance Discussion Paper #787. November 2003.
  • “Precautionary Savings and the Wealth Distribution with Illiquid Durables” (with Robert F. Martin) Federal Reserve International Finance Discussion Paper #773. September 2003.
  • “Productivity Shocks, Habits, and the Current Account” Federal Reserve International Finance Discussion Paper #733. August 2002.