Janet Yellen: A Woman Atop the Fed

By John Cassidy, The New Yorker

09 October 13

t isn't exactly news that President Obama will be nominating Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke as head of the Federal Reserve. (The official announcement will take place on Wednesday afternoon.) Since Larry Summers withdrew his name from contention last month, Yellen has been the prohibitive favorite to get the job. A former professor of economics at Berkeley, she has extensive experience at the Fed: since 2010, she's been Bernanke's deputy as its vice-chair.

In the coming days, there will be much more to say about Yellen's economic beliefs, her approach to monetary policy, and the challenges she will face in taking over from Bernanke next February. (Earlier this year, when her name surfaced as a serious candidate, I took a quick look at her background.) For now, though, let's dwell for a moment on the fact that she will be the first woman to lead the Fed. Indeed, if you don't count Russia as part of the West, she will be the first woman to head a central bank in any big Western nation.

That matters in a number of ways.

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