Meet Janet Yellen, Obama’s Pick For Federal Reserve Leader


Janet Yellen is about to become the first female leader of the Federal Reserve. President Obama nominated Ms. Yellen, 67, as the Fed’s vice chairwoman in 2010. During her nomination Yellen was easily confirmed on a voice vote by the US Senate.

If Obama’s selection is chosen Yellen would become the first female to run the United States’ most powerful banking system.

According to Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, Yellen is expected to win bipartisan support.

Months of speculation pointed to Lawrence H. Summers winning the nomination, however, he dropped out of the running on September 15 after several Democratic senators voiced concern over his record.

Janet Yellen is a native of Brooklyn and previously worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Yellen also worked as a White House adviser, and served as a Fed governor during the Clinton administration. Yellen served as a longtime professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

When Ben Bernanke’s term ends on January 31 it will be up to Ms. Yellen to figure out how to quickly wind down Bernanke’s expansionary monetary policy. Yellen had worked closely with Bernanke to create a policy that would decrease unemployment by increasing spending.

In many ways Ms. Yellen has wanted the Federal Reserve to take more aggressive steps to help along the US economy, although analysts believe she will remain close to the current administrations established policies.

An official announcement will be made at 3pm on Wednesday in the East Room of the White House.

According to Obama administration officials, the timing of Janet Yellen’s nomination has nothing to do with the current government shutdown and the financial battle currently underway between the White House and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Ben Bernanke has come under fire for underestimating the economy’s weakness at several points throughout his tenure. The current Fed Chairman says he believes Congress is damaging the economy through budget brinkmanship that could cause severe damage over the weeks ahead.

During her teachings at the University of California, Berkeley, Ms. Yellen argued that markets benefit from regulation which is needed to stymie abuses while limiting disruptions to economic growth.

As the recession began Janet Yellen correctly predicted the painfully slow climb out of economic turmoil. She also said there was little reason to worry about inflation which led the Federal Reserve to issue dramatic steps aimed at reviving the economy.

Janet Yellen will become the first female to lead a major central bank.

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