Paul Volcker obituary

Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board in the 1980s who saw off inflation and later criticised financial deregulation

Paul Volcker, who has died aged 92, was the most eminent financial statesman of his generation, the sworn enemy of the abuse of finance in any of its manifestations. That could be indulging inflation as the financial outcome of governments and society living beyond their means, or investment banks deluding themselves they had uncovered the alchemy of risk-free lending through the issuance of ever more complex financial derivatives.

His twin mantras were that finance should be the servant not the master of economy and society. And that good government is an indispensable component of a good society, in particular keeping the temptations of clever-clever finance at bay. Sound money and good government went hand in hand. He practised what he preached, seizing the opportunity to embody his beliefs when the moment arrived.