This article was co-authored by May Arjomand ’16 and Chelsea Gardner ’16
Intelligent, experienced and prudent, Janet Yellen has been nominated by the Obama administration as the new chairwoman of The Federal Reserve, the Central Bank of the United States. If approved by Congress, she will be the first woman to run the Central Bank.
The Federal Reserve is tasked with setting the monetary policy of the economy in addition to supervising and regulating financial institutions in the country. The decisions of the Federal Reserve are crucial to the sustainability of our economy as this board controls inflation, unemployment, and economic growth.
Yellen sure has her work cut out for her, but, as Obama said, she is “one of the nation’s foremost economists and policy makers…I am absolutely confident that she will be an exceptional chair of the Federal Reserve.”
Now 67 years old, Yellen has dedicated her life to the study of economics. Born in
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
1946 in Brooklyn, New York, she graduated from Brown University with a degree in economics in 1967. Shen then obtained her Ph.D. in economics from Yale University in 1971. Yellen continued on to serve as an economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 1977-1978, and then as a member from 1994-1997 . From 2004-2010, she was President and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Yellen is currently a Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business while serving as the vice chairwoman of the Fed.
Yellen’s ample economic-related accolades have made people believe in her capability to effectively run our Central Bank. She is well respected because her responses to economic crises are supported by data, analysis, and hardcore facts. Yellen has wanted the Feds to take more aggressive steps to increase economic growth, even if that means inflation, for she believes the risks of inflation are not as bad as we may think.
If approved by Congress in a few weeks, Yellen will succeed Ben Bernanke, current Chair of the Federal Reserve, who has initiated low interest rate policies to foster employment. Yellen and Bernanke have worked closely on economic policies; with similar methods and ideas, her leadership will provide a continuity of the current Federal Reserve policies.
Our very own Ms. Kornblatt, who is currently teaching an Introduction to Economics elective for juniors and seniors, explains, “When confirmed as chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen will become one of the most powerful people in the world and the world’s most important economist. As such, her nomination is a significant step for women in a field where women are traditionally underrepresented. While there are many women in the field of economics and finance, the numbers become fewer and fewer at each echelon on the way to the top. Yellen is the ultimate symbol for women of their potential to achieve, and I believe her nomination will inspire girls as it inspires me.”