Who Will Replace Bernanke at the Fed?
Posted at 12:15 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2012
“President Barack Obama’s election-night victory means the Federal Reserve’s easy-money policies are likely to continue until the economy strengthens significantly,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Mr. Obama already has left his stamp on the Fed by reappointing Ben Bernanke chairman of the board and appointing five of the other six members. The president’s re-election means he will nominate a successor to Mr. Bernanke, who is expected to step down when his term as chairman ends in January 2014… With Mr. Obama in the White House, one top candidate for Fed chairman is the board’s vice chairman, Janet Yellen… Ms. Yellen’s monetary-policy philosophy largely aligns with that of Mr. Bernanke. Like him, Ms. Yellen thinks the Fed’s low-interest rate policies can help boost the jobs market.”
“Other potential candidates for the post include three former Fed vice chairmen: Donald Kohn, now a Brookings Institution scholar; Roger Ferguson, Jr., now the president and chief executive of TIAA-CREF, a financial-services firm; and Alan Blinder, now an economics professor at Princeton University. Former Treasury Secretary and top White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers, currently a Harvard University professor, also could be nominated.”
