Meet Canada’s central banker turned Prime Minister

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Who said economics majors are unpopular? Canada elected central banker extraordinaire Mark Carney as the leader of the Liberal Party on Sunday, making him Justin Trudeau’s successor as Prime Minister. When he’s sworn in this week, Carney will inherit a country in the midst of an economic hailstorm brought on by US tariffs. But he knows a thing or two about tough economic climates, and he’s regarded by economists as a rock star central banker. Who is this guy? Carney is like a living Patagonia vest—he studied at Harvard and Oxford before a 13-year stint at Goldman Sachs. Despite having no political experience, he made his way into the spotlight after years of successfully piloting countries through the economic equivalents of Scylla and Charybdis as the head of two central banks. Carney ran the Bank of Canada from 2008–2013, helping stabilize the country through the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis. The Bank of England recruited him in 2013 to steer the country through Brexit. He was the first non-Brit to hold the position since the bank’s founding in 1694. He already came out swingin’. In his acceptance speech, Carney said that President Trump is “attacking Canadian workers, families, and businesses.” He also indicated that he plans to keep reciprocal tariffs on US goods until the US starts to show some “respect.”—CC