Charles Evans

Charles Evans served as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago from 2007 to 2023, making him one of the longest-serving regional Fed presidents. He developed the "Evans Rule" — a proposal that the Fed should not raise interest rates until the unemployment rate had fallen below 6.5% (or inflation significantly exceeded 2.5%) — which influenced the development of outcome-based forward guidance at the Fed. As generally a dovish voice at the Fed, Evans advocated for state-dependent rather than calendar-based forward guidance, arguing this better communicated the Fed's reaction function to markets. His Evans Rule concept was formally adopted by the FOMC in December 2012 as part of its forward guidance communications, marking a significant shift toward explicit economic thresholds in central bank communication. He received his doctorate from Carnegie Mellon and joined the Chicago Fed as a researcher in 1991, rising through the organization over two decades before becoming president. The Chicago Fed district includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin — a major manufacturing and agricultural region — giving Evans's FOMC voice particular resonance on labor market conditions in the industrial Midwest.