Sunday, March 14, 2010
Obama Focuses on 3 to Fill Fed Board
Economists Janet L. Yellen (president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco) and Peter A. Diamond (professor at MIT and an authority on Social Security), along with lawyer Sarah Broom Raskin (also commissioner of financial regulation) are contenders for three spots on the board of governors. Janet Yellen is a top contender and is top choice for Vice Chairwoman. A former Fed governor, Randal S. Kroszner stated “What they’ve done is try to put together a package of people who play to different strengths: analytic economics with Yellen; a broader economic perspective with Diamond; and then, clearly, a focus on consumer protection with Raskin.” It is projected that in the next two months the Fed will tighten the monetary policy. Also, last week vice chairman Kohn, announced that he will be retiring.
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4 comments:
I think it will be interesting to see what happens, if and or when these three are elected. I wonder what will happen to interest rates and what exactly will happen with monetary policy.
I think it is certainly important to bring more economists onto the board. Also, I think it is important to ensure that the Fed is balanced by people who bring different skills to the table. If these three are chosen for confirmation by the Senate, then I think Obama has done a good job picking a set of people who each bring different priorities needed by the Fed.
I think it is interesting to see how the political process affects the selection of economists to fill the respective posts. Clearly as the obama administration seeks to have a people in the Fed who are amenable to their position on the economy, there is a lot of pressure to fill the posts with economists who are very concerned and connected with the woes of the common man. It will be good to see how each brings their own perspective to the formation of policy in the future.
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