Mary Daly
| Mary C. Daly | |
| Born | 04 04, 1963 |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Economist, central banker |
| Title | President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco |
| Known for | President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco |
Mary C. Daly is an American economist who has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco since October 2018. In this capacity, she participates in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the body responsible for setting monetary policy in the United States. Daly's tenure at the San Francisco Fed has been marked by significant economic challenges, including the economic disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and more recently, the Federal Reserve's efforts to manage inflation while sustaining labor market stability. Prior to her appointment as president, Daly spent more than two decades as a researcher and executive at the San Francisco Fed, rising through its ranks to become executive vice president and director of research. In 2026, Daly has been a prominent voice in discussions about the economic implications of artificial intelligence, cautioning that the Federal Reserve must carefully assess whether AI-driven productivity gains are translating into broader economic effects before adjusting interest rate policy.[1]
Note: Mary C. Daly, the Federal Reserve official, should not be confused with Mary Daly (1928–2010), the American radical feminist philosopher and theologian who taught at Boston College.
Early Life
Mary C. Daly's early life was shaped by economic hardship. She has spoken publicly about growing up in a working-class household and dropping out of high school as a teenager. She later earned her GED and pursued higher education, eventually obtaining advanced degrees in economics. Daly has cited her personal experience of economic insecurity as a motivating factor in her career as an economist and her focus on labor markets, wage dynamics, and the economic well-being of workers.
Career
Research Career at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Daly joined the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco as a researcher, where she spent more than two decades building expertise in labor economics, wage dynamics, and the impact of economic policy on workers. Her research focused on areas including wage rigidity, the effects of unemployment on long-term labor market outcomes, and how economic shocks affect different segments of the population. Over the course of her career at the San Francisco Fed, she held positions of increasing responsibility, eventually serving as executive vice president and director of research — the senior-most research position at the bank. In this role, she was responsible for overseeing the bank's economic research division and advising the bank's president on monetary policy matters.
Appointment as President and CEO
In October 2018, Daly was appointed as the 13th President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She became the first person without an Ivy League degree to lead the San Francisco Fed, and her appointment was noted for the unconventional path she took to the position, having started from a background of economic disadvantage. As president, Daly became a voting or alternate member of the FOMC, participating in the Federal Reserve's deliberations on interest rates and monetary policy.
Monetary Policy During Economic Uncertainty
Daly's presidency has encompassed a period of significant economic turbulence. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve pursued aggressive monetary tightening to combat rising inflation, raising the federal funds rate to its highest level in decades. Daly has participated in these deliberations as a member of the FOMC.
By late 2025, as inflationary pressures showed signs of moderating while the labor market exhibited some vulnerability, Daly expressed support for continued adjustments to interest rate policy. In November 2025, she publicly backed a rate cut at the Federal Reserve's December 2025 meeting, citing concerns about a vulnerable labor market. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Daly indicated that she saw lowering interest rates as appropriate given the economic conditions at the time.[2]
AI and Economic Policy (2026)
In early 2026, Daly emerged as one of the more prominent Federal Reserve voices on the economic implications of artificial intelligence. In a series of public statements and interviews in February 2026, she addressed how the Federal Reserve was evaluating whether AI-driven technological changes were producing measurable effects on productivity, inflation, and the labor market.
In a February 2026 interview with Reuters, Daly stated that the Federal Reserve needed to "dig deep into the data" to assess whether artificial intelligence was genuinely boosting productivity growth and enabling economic expansion without generating inflationary pressures. She emphasized the importance of data-driven analysis over speculation about the transformative potential of AI.[3]
In a conversation with Bloomberg News, Daly noted that while there was significant discussion about AI's potential to fundamentally change the economy, there was not yet substantial evidence that such changes were manifesting in macroeconomic data.[4]
Daly also offered observations about how AI was reshaping hiring practices in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Federal Reserve district she oversees. In comments reported by Axios, Daly described the current period as a "transition phase" in which AI was beginning to alter employment patterns, though the full implications remained uncertain.[5]
In remarks covered by Finance & Commerce and other outlets, Daly described the Federal Reserve's current interest rate policy as "well positioned" to allow officials time to study AI's economic effects. She characterized AI-related productivity gains as moving "under the hood" of the economy — present but not yet clearly visible in aggregate economic statistics — and signaled that this warranted a stable policy stance rather than preemptive rate adjustments.[6][7]
Separately, Daly stated that monetary policy was "in a good place," reiterating that the central bank's current posture gave it flexibility to respond to evolving economic conditions, including those driven by technological change.[8]
These comments reflected Daly's broader analytical approach to monetary policy, which has emphasized the importance of patience, data dependence, and caution against making premature policy changes based on anticipated rather than observed economic shifts.
Role Within the Federal Reserve System
As president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Daly oversees one of the twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks. The San Francisco Fed's district is the largest by geography, covering nine western states, as well as American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The district includes major technology centers such as Silicon Valley and Seattle, placing Daly in a unique position to observe the effects of technological innovation on the economy firsthand.
In her role, Daly participates in FOMC meetings, where she contributes to decisions about the federal funds rate and other monetary policy tools. FOMC members rotate voting privileges, but all regional Fed presidents participate in discussions. Daly's perspective on labor markets and her district's proximity to the technology industry have given her a distinct voice within the Federal Reserve System on issues related to innovation, employment, and economic inequality.
Personal Life
Daly has spoken publicly about her unconventional path to the leadership of a Federal Reserve Bank. She dropped out of high school as a teenager and worked in a doughnut shop before returning to education. She has described these experiences as formative, giving her a personal understanding of the challenges faced by workers without advanced education and those in low-wage employment. Daly has used her personal narrative to advocate for economic policies that consider the experiences of workers across the income spectrum, and she has been open about how her background informs her approach to monetary policy and economic research.
Recognition
Daly's appointment as President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco was noted for its historic and symbolic significance, given her non-traditional educational and professional background. She has been recognized as a prominent voice within the Federal Reserve System on issues related to labor markets, economic inequality, and the intersection of technology and the economy. Her public commentary on AI and monetary policy in 2026 has attracted significant media attention from outlets including Reuters, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Axios, and others, reflecting her standing as a key participant in national economic policy discussions.[6]
References
- ↑ "Fed well positioned to study AI's economic impact, Daly says".Finance & Commerce.2026-02-21.https://finance-commerce.com/2026/02/mary-daly-fed-policy-ai-productivity-inflation/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
- ↑ "Exclusive | Fed's Daly Backs December Rate Cut, Citing Vulnerable Labor Market".The Wall Street Journal.2025-11-24.https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/feds-daly-backs-december-rate-cut-citing-vulnerable-labor-market-07a497b6?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqcNK--5gv53J5TkCXX8YegnXlcnkIs38uBtWHGRPfqJOv2mUw_S7hfn&gaa_ts=699d4825&gaa_sig=bNs6m4v8QuaWapKVLKG0Z1KmAcakFWqjyxSC8IEZ7T-_Gv0eD7nyo6Z-VuDdyPAfjauVgmXzrrhDcVJ2dDPomQ%3D%3D.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
- ↑ "Fed must dig deep on AI impact to make right rate calls ahead, Daly says".Reuters.2026-02-17.https://www.reuters.com/business/fed-must-dig-deep-ai-impact-make-right-rate-calls-ahead-daly-says-2026-02-17/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
- ↑ "Bloomberg Talks: Mary Daly".Bloomberg.com.2026-02-18.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2026-02-18/bloomberg-talks-mary-daly-podcast.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
- ↑ "How the San Francisco Fed is seeing AI reshape hiring".Axios.2026-02-18.https://www.axios.com/local/san-francisco/2026/02/18/mary-daly-ai-hiring-transition-phase.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Fed well positioned to study AI's economic impact, Daly says".Finance & Commerce.2026-02-21.https://finance-commerce.com/2026/02/mary-daly-fed-policy-ai-productivity-inflation/.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
- ↑ "San Francisco Fed's Mary Daly Signals Policy Stability as AI Productivity Gains Move "Under the Hood"".FinancialContent.2026-02-20.https://markets.financialcontent.com/stocks/article/marketminute-2026-2-20-san-francisco-feds-mary-daly-signals-policy-stability-as-ai-productivity-gains-move-under-the-hood.Retrieved 2026-02-24.
- ↑ "Fed's Daly says policy 'in a good place' as officials assess AI's effect on economy".MSN.2026-02-20.https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/fed-s-daly-says-policy-in-a-good-place-as-officials-assess-ai-s-effect-on-economy/ar-AA1WHGI4?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds.Retrieved 2026-02-24.