Politicsfederal reservePoliticsJanet Yellen

Janet Yellen For Federal Reserve Chairman? Dems Reportedly Send Letter Urging Obama To Pick Her

Democrats Want Yellen
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Politics Social Media Editor, HuffPost

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A group of Democratic senators have reportedly signed a letter encouraging President Barack Obama to appoint Federal Reserve Board of Governors Vice Chairman Janet Yellen as the next chairman.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the endorsement letter does not mention Larry Summers, who has also been floated as a possibility. One Democratic senator who signed the letter voiced his apprehension to the paper.

"There's a lot of concern among a lot of Democrats about an appointment of Larry Summers to that long-term position as Fed chairman," said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). "He was one of the architects of getting rid of Glass-Steagall, of getting rid of other regulations."

Speculation has surfaced that Yellen would be a front-runner for the position, with Washington Post columnist Neil Irwin citing her as "unquestionably qualified" due to her economic worldview and high-ranking experience.

Harkin and his colleagues in the letter are not alone in their concern, as some activists have also favored Yellen over Summers.

"It is high time to shatter the glass ceiling at the Fed and appoint a woman to a post that impacts so many women, and Janet Yellen would be a much celebrated pick," Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of feminist group UltraViolet said, according to a Tuesday HuffPost report.

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Before You Go

11 Lies About The Fed
Myth: The Fed actually prints money.(01 of11)
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People commonly say that the Fed itself prints money. It's true that the Fed is in charge of the money supply. But technically, the Treasury Department prints money on the Fed's behalf. Asking the Treasury Department to print cash isn't even necessary for the Fed to buy securities. (credit:AP)
Myth: The Federal Reserve is spending money wastefully.(02 of11)
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Both CNN anchor Erin Burnett and Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan have compared the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing to government spending. But the Federal Reserve actually has created new money by expanding its balance sheet. The Fed earned a $77.4 billion profit last year, most of which it gave to the U.S. government. (credit:Getty)
Myth: The Fed is causing hyperinflation.(03 of11)
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Someconservativeshave claimed that the Federal Reserve is causing hyperinflation. But inflation is actually at historically low levels, and there is no sign that is going to change. Core prices have risen just 1.4 percent over the past year, according to the Labor Department -- below the Federal Reserve's target of 2 percent. (credit:AP)
Myth: The amount of cash available has grown tremendously.(04 of11)
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Some Federal Reserve critics claim that the Fed has devalued the U.S. dollar through a massive expansion of the amount of currency in circulation. But not only is inflation low; currency growth also has not really changed since the Fed started its stimulus measures, as noted by Business Insider's Joe Weisenthal. (credit:AP)
Myth: The gold standard would make prices more stable.(05 of11)
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Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) has claimed that bringing back the gold standard would make prices more stable. But prices actually were much less stable under the gold standard than they are today, as The Atlantic's Matthew O'Brien and Business Insider's Joe Weisenthal have noted. (credit:Getty Images)
Myth: The Fed is causing food and gas prices to rise.(06 of11)
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CNN anchor Erin Burnett claimed in September that the Federal Reserve's stimulus measures have caused food and gas prices to rise. But many economists believe global supply and demand issues are influencing these prices, not Fed policy. And there actually is no correlation between the Fed's stimulus measures and commodity prices, according to some economists Paul Krugman and Dean Baker. (credit:Getty)
Myth: Quantitative easing has not helped job growth.(07 of11)
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Some Federal Reserve critics claim that the Fed's stimulus measures have destroyed jobs. But the Fed's quantitative easing measures actually have saved or created more than 2 million jobs, according to the Fed's economists. In addition, JPMorgan Chase chief economist Michael Feroli told Bloomberg last month that QE3 will provide at least a small benefit to the economy. (credit:AP)
Myth: Tying the U.S. dollar to commodities would solve everything.(08 of11)
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Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has proposed tying the value of the U.S. dollar to a basket of commodities, in an aim to promote price stability. But this actually would cause prices to be much less stable and hurt the U.S. economy overall, as The Atlantic's Matthew O'Brien has noted. (credit:AP)
Myth: Ending the Fed would make the financial system more stable.(09 of11)
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Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) claims that ending the Federal Reserve and returning to the gold standard would make the U.S. financial system more stable. But the U.S. economy actually experienced longer and more frequent financial crises and recessions during the 19th century, when the U.S. was using the gold standard and did not have the Fed. (credit:AP)
Myth: The Fed can't do anything else to help job growth.(10 of11)
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Manycommentators have claimed that there simply aren't any tools left in the Fed's toolkit to be able to help job growth. But some economistshave noted that the Fed could target a higher inflation rate to stimulate job growth. The Fed, however, has ruled this option out -- for now. (credit:AP)
Myth: The Fed can't easily unwind all of this stimulus.(11 of11)
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Some commentatorshave claimed that the Fed can't safely unwind its quantitative easing measures. But the Fed's program involves buying some of the most heavily traded and owned securities in the world, Treasury and government-backed mortgage bonds. The Fed will likely have little problem finding buyers for these securities, all of which will eventually expire even if the Fed does nothing. But economists have noted that once the Fed decides it's time to unwind the stimulus, the economy will have improved to such an extent that this won't be an issue. (credit:AP)
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