U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is ready to elect Janet Yellen as U.S. Treasury Secretary and Chief Cabinet Officer as he faces a laborious recovery from the shock of the coronavirus epidemic.
The likely election of 74-year-old Yellen confirms his generation’s status as one of the most important U.S. policy makers, given his previous roles as chairman of the Federal Reserve, chairman of the San Francisco Fed, and chairman of the White House Council. economic advisers led by Bill Clinton.
Ms. Yellen was recently overthrown by Fed Governor Lael Brainard as Mr. Biden’s chief executive to lead the Treasury with an expected announcement in the coming days, people in the case say.
He did not want to make a statement through a Brookings Institute spokesman.
Other candidates for the job included Sarah Bloom Raskin, a former deputy finance minister; Roger Ferguson, CEO of the Teacher Insurance and Annuities Association; and Raphael Bostic, president of the Atlanta Fed. The Biden transition team did not want to comment.
Assuming the Senate has confirmed, Ms. Yellen will be the first woman to serve as Treasury Secretary in the institution’s 231-year history. He takes on the difficult task of Steven Mnuchin, Treasury Secretary Donald Trump, to shake off the U.S. recovery by giving new impetus to the billions of dollars called for by Mr Biden while keeping financial markets stable.
These efforts are likely to involve in-depth talks with Capitol Hill, given Republicans ’resistance to large spending increases, and will maintain close ties with Fed President Jay Powell, especially as Mr. Mnuchin has recently stepped up a number of emergency lending facilities. .
Mr. Biden’s election to Ms. Yellen’s treasury role gives him a secure hand and a well-known figure as the leader of the U.S. economy, but his nomination also reflects his desire to subtly balance the demands of the moderate and progressive wings of the Democrats. party.
As maneuvering for the highest treasury position has intensified in recent weeks, Ms. Yellen has been kept to the left of Brainard and Ferguson enough to satisfy the Liberals, but not as progressive as Ms. Raskin.
Yellen is of New York descent, having a degree in economics from Brown University and then a doctorate from Yale University, where she was taught by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz.
In addition to his time in the White House, he held a number of different senior positions in the Fed before being appointed President of the US Federal Reserve by then-President Barack Obama in late 2013 and taking office in early 2014.
Ms. Yellen led the Fed through a tightening cycle as the central bank tried to normalize its monetary policy in the final stages of recovery from the financial crisis.
He was ranked among the more doviret monetary policy makers, but rising interest rates under his supervision were later judged by the US Federal Reserve to be too pale, finding that unemployment could fall to much lower levels before triggering inflation.
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