Sherry Cooper

Location: Ontario | Profession: Business

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"Coming out of academia, I got any economist’s dream
job: working at the U.S. Federal Reserve Board. It was
an incredibly exciting time to be there, because the entire
banking system was changing. Inflation was brewing
and no one knew what to do about it. When the new
chairman, Paul Volcker, limited the money supply and
interest rates began to soar, the home builders industry
and the farmers were burning him in effigy in the streets.
One lunatic actually snuck into the boardroom with a
machete, intent on killing him.

I was right in the thick of the chaos. Because I
had been hired to work on capital markets, a field that
was hugely important at the time, I managed to become
a briefer at the Monday morning meetings. Those were
the most intense pressure cookers I have ever experienced.
The Fed worked me to death seven days a week, but
I loved it. Young people today often aren’t prepared to
do whatever it takes to shine. They set their own career
boundaries. In the end, that’s probably a good thing. I
think my generation saw the pendulum swing too widely
on the workaholic side."