Karen Petrou
A center-left author whose book, 'The Fed, the Engine of Inequality,' is praised by Scott Bessent for correctly identifying the Fed's role in exacerbating economic disparity.
First Mentioned
12/23/2025, 5:44:59 AM
Last Updated
12/23/2025, 5:47:40 AM
Research Retrieved
12/23/2025, 5:47:40 AM
Summary
Karen Shaw Petrou is an American financial analyst and a co-founder of Federal Financial Analytics, an organization that offers analytical and advisory services concerning legislation, public policy, and regulatory matters impacting financial services. Her work has been noted in discussions about economic strategy, including a critique of the Federal Reserve's prolonged use of quantitative easing since the Great Financial Crisis, which has been argued to have created an asset bubble and a two-tiered economy. This perspective aligns with author Karen Petrou's views on the subject.
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View on WikipediaKaren Shaw Petrou
Karen Shaw Petrou is an American financial analyst and co-founder of Federal Financial Analytics, where she provides analytic and advisory services on legislation, public policy, and regulatory issues that affect financial services in the United States and foreign countries.
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- Karen Shaw Petrou
Karen Shaw Petrou is an American financial analyst and co-founder of Federal Financial Analytics, where she provides analytic and advisory services on ...Read more
- The Karen And Basil Petrou Legacy Education Initiative
Karen is co-founder and managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics, Inc. She was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa when she was 18. Like many people experiencing progressive vision loss, early on she said she was coping the best she could and trying to hide her vision issues. In the early 2000s a friend introduced her to the Foundation. [...] Karen Petrou understands the realities of end-of-life planning as well as anyone. She and her husband Basil have spent their careers in the financial services industry, and when Basil died in 2021 after a long, heroic battle with pancreatic cancer, it was a comfort for her that his affairs were in good order. Still, the experience left her with a realization of how daunting the financial and legal implications of losing of a spouse can be. [...] “When Basil died, all of the impact of estate planning became a reality for me,” Karen said. “It was a real reminder of how important it is.” She realized how easily it would be for the experience to be totally overwhelming, even for people who were prepared. That realization inspired Karen to help create the Basil and Karen Petrou Legacy Education Initiative.
- Who We Are - Federal Financial Analytics
“Karen is a genius. Because of the quality of her work she’s one of the most listened-to people in Washington. Whether Treasury or the House or Senate or the Fed, everyone pays attention to what she says…. Karen Petrou is an extraordinary individual.” —Lew Ranieri, investor often credited with creating the mortgage bond structure that enabled the modern housing-finance system to emerge Basil Petrou (1947-2021) [...] She is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Federal Financial Analytics, Inc., a privately-held company that since 1985 has provided analytical and advisory services on legislative, regulatory, and public-policy issues affecting financial services companies doing business in the U.S. and abroad. Petrou is a frequent speaker on topics affecting the financial services industry. In addition to testifying before the U.S. Congress, she has spoken before the Federal Reserve Banks of New York, St. [...] Louis, San Francisco, and Chicago, the European Central Bank, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the International Monetary Fund, the Clearing House, the Bank Policy Institute, the Institute of International Bankers, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the Japanese Diet, and many other governmental, industry and academic groups. Petrou is the author of the book Engine of Inequality, the Fed and the future of wealth in America. She has also authored numerous
- Karen Petrou - Federal Financial Analytics, Inc. | LinkedIn
# Karen Petrou Federal Financial Analytics, Inc. Washington, District of Columbia, United States, US 500 connections, 1951 followers ## About She is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Federal Financial Analytics, Inc<br><br>, a… ## Experience N/A ## Education N/A ## Publications N/A ## Honors & Awards N/A ## Certifications N/A ## Volunteering N/A ## Languages N/A ## Organizations N/A [...] ## People Also Viewed - Michael Del Re, III (None) - - Jeff Feinendegen (None) - - Chris Lott, CFP®, CPA (None) - - Jay Dortch AIF® CBEC® (None) - - T. Michael Henderson (None) - - JJ Carrasco (None) - - Rex Moxley (None) - - Troy Kemelgor, CLU, ChFC, CASL (None) - - David Seibel (None) - - Michael C. Eddy (None) - - Ray West (None) - - Will Olinger, CIMA® (None) - - Mathew Glauninger (None) - - Pat Antonetti (None) - - Michael Minter (None) - - Lance Newsome, CFP® (None) - [...] - Honored to be mentioned in Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s insightful, important The Wall Street Journal op-ed today. He is absolutely right: the… Shared by Karen Petrou View Post Activity Image - One important point re courts, Cook: the President’s own executive order exempts Fed monetary policy from the overall takeover of the banking… Shared by Karen Petrou View Post Activity Image
- Karen Petrou: Why Big-Bank Compensation is No Longer Impregnable
Home About Services Become a Client Press & Blog Contact Client Center [...] The rationale for the prime-contractor constraints is frustration over the decades in which these firms have consolidated and gotten ever bigger contracts yet delivered fewer and fewer armaments on time anywhere close to on budget. There is thus a flood of stories about how many ships, planes, and super-weapons the Chinese build as U.S. capabilities grow ever older, slower, and still more expensive. Will de facto nationalization for defense contractors make the U.S. military agile again [...] I and many others have noted over the years that populists and progressives often advocate the same economic policies no matter how much they otherwise wage culture wars. A little-noticed case in point is work underway in the Trump White House to subject the biggest defense contractors to strict limits on compensation and capital distributions. Treasury Secretary Bessent is said to support the idea, leading Sen. Warren to suggest a “partnership.” Might this extend from prime defense