Bond Buying
Yellen, 66, has consistently backed the Fed’s accommodative monetary policy and led its unprecedented efforts to expand and overhaul its communications strategies. The Federal Open Market Committee is buying $85 billion in bonds each month and has kept the main interest rate near zero since December 2008 to spur growth and reduce unemployment that was 7.6 percent last month.
“I think Janet Yellen would be outstanding,” Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, said in an interview July 24. “I’ve known her for a long time. She has tremendous experience and the right temperament, and I think it would be great to have her.”
Bernanke said in a March 20 news conference that he’s “spoken to the president a bit” about it and feels no personal responsibility to remain in the job. He said he doesn’t see himself as the only one qualified to lead the Fed as it exits stimulus that’s pushed its balance sheet to a record $3.57 trillion.
Investor Polls
A third of those surveyed in May said they expect Yellen to succeed Bernanke, while Summers was cited by 6 percent, according to the Bloomberg Global Poll of investors, analysts and traders. In an April poll of investors by International Strategy & Investment Group, 65 percent said Yellen was most likely to take over compared with 5 percent for Summers.
Summers, 58, served as Treasury secretary under Clinton and as Obama’s first National Economic Council director. As Treasury Secretary, Summers pushed for deregulation of the financial services industry.
His potential nomination has already drawn opposition from some lawmakers. Merkley, a Democratic member of the banking panel, posted a Twitter message on July 23: “Larry Summers for Fed Chair? Disconcerting... many questions to answer.”
New York Senator Chuck Schumer, the 100-member chamber’s third-ranking Democrat, and a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said he didn’t have a preference and wouldn’t “pre- judge” Obama’s potential picks.
‘Very Smart’