Summers Withdraws From Consideration for Fed Post -- So... What Do We Want From the Next Fed Chair?

I'm surprised but not shocked. Damien Paletta and Kristina Peterson of the WSJ were the first I saw to report that the math for getting the president's alleged front-runner out of the Senate Banking Committee was getting awfully tough.

Though I found Larry to be a strong Keynesian ally during the worst of the great recession, and no friend of thebanks during our work on Dodd-Frank, that's not the way key members of the committee saw it, recalling his role in the financial market deregulation of the 1990s, changes that contributed to the mess we're still digging out of.

But as I said all along, we have had two strong candidates. Let's hope the president now turns to Janet Yellen, who I believe would make an excellent Fed chairperson.

Which raises the important question, what are the characteristics we should be looking for as the confirmation gets underway once the President chooses his nominee? Here's my take, over at the New York Times.