The Fed Governor Who Proved Larry Summers Wrong

Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller laid out a novel economic framework two years ago showing how the central bank could bring inflation back to its 2% target without the usual jump in unemployment, stirring furious pushback from economic heavyweights.

Two years later, with inflation edging closer to 2% and unemployment still near a half-century low, Waller is looking prescient. It is one of the reasons the academic economist-turned-central banker is one of the Fed’s most closely watched officials and a name now floated to chair the Fed one day.

In recent years, Waller has been...