Janet Yellen’s move to become the very first woman to head the Federal Reserve System has inched closer Thursday as the Senate Banking Committee voted 14 to 8 in favor of Yellen. Her nomination will now be sent to the Senate for a full vote and is expected to be put in charge of one of the most powerful organizations in the world today.
Yellen was fully supported by all of the committee’s Democrats except for West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin. She also garnered the support from Republican Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn and Illinois Senator Mark Kirk.
“Dr. Yellen is a model candidate for Chair of the Fed. She currently serves as the Vice Chair, she was the President of the San Francisco Fed for 6 years, and she served on the Fed Board of Governors in the 1990s,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson in a statement.
“She has devoted a large portion of her professional and academic career to studying the labor market, unemployment, monetary policy, and the economy. As we saw in her testimony last week, Dr. Yellen understands the challenges facing our economy and the balance the Fed must strike as we navigate the path back to full employment. Dr. Yellen also showed in her testimony that she understands the importance of completing ongoing Wall Street Reform rulemaking and of the Fed’s regulatory role in supervising the riskiest banks.”
When it is up for a vote in the Senate – nothing has been scheduled as of yet – it is believed to be a swift vote as Democrats control 55 of the 100 votes in the Senate and at least five Republican senators have already confirmed they will support Yellen’s nomination. Therefore, she will have garnered the 60 votes needed to succeed Ben Bernanke on Jan. 31, 2014.
Fed critics have been staunch opponents of Yellen’s since the day it was announced that she was the top candidate – as well as former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers – to chair the central bank. In addition to not foreseeing any collapse in the United States economy, Yellen has hinted for more of the same and may even boost the quantitative easing initiative to as high as $1 trillion per month, despite the Fed suggesting that it could taper “in the coming months,” according to minutes released Wednesday.
“The question is not tapering. The question is at what point will they increase the asset purchases to say $150 [billion] , $200 [billion], a trillion dollars a month,” explained Marc Faber, published of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, in an interview with CNBC.
For further analysis on Yellen, check out any of the links below:
Janet Yellen indifferent towards savers, lacks economic insight
Marc Faber: Federal Reserve could increase ‘QE-infinity’ to $1 trillion per month
Janet Yellen: ‘I didn’t see’ the financial collapse coming
Janet Yellen garnering support from economists with supposed record
Larry Summers or Janet Yellen for Fed Chair? Why both are wrong choices
Leave a Comment