Oct. 30, 2017 — There has been speculation that after Trump picks one of the five candidates to be chair of the Federal Reserve (with Jay Powell now apparently the front-runner), he could pick another one of them to be Vice-chair. This latter position is the one that, sadly, Stanley Fischer is now vacating.
I hope that Trump asks Janet Yellen to be Vice-chair, assuming he breaks precedent and does not re-nominate her for Chair, and I hope she accepts.
Most pundits assume that Yellen would not dream of accepting the number two position. Conventional wisdom is that no self-respecting Washington official would settle for a job of rank lower to the position previously held. I have never quite understood this logic. The argument seems to be “if I can’t be the most powerful person, then I’d rather have no power at all than settle for the #2 slot.”
Historically not all Washington officials have obeyed the conventional wisdom. John Quincy Adams had a long successful career as a Congressman, after failing to achieve a second term as president. William Howard Taft too was happier serving as Supreme Court Chief Justice than he had previously been in the White House. Setting a worthy example, Fischer accepted the #2 job at the Fed in 2014 even though his abilities and experience would have qualified him to be Chair. It would be best for the country if Yellen stayed on.
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