Picking a new chairman of the Federal Reserve may be the most important nomination a president can make. The next Fed chair will play an instrumental role in determining the future trajectory of America’s straggling recovery, and determining how financial regulation gets implemented. It remains to be seen who President Obama will officially nominate to fill current chairman Ben Bernanke’s role when his term expires in January, but early reports suggest he is leaning toward Larry Summers, a former Treasury Secretary and Harvard president, as well as first-term White House National Economic Council director.
Obama’s own base is livid at the idea.
“He provokes strong reactions in people,” economist Dean Baker told MSNBC.com. Here’s why: [...]
His leadership style might not work on the Fed. Summers is known for having a pugilistic style, and his critics say that doesn’t fit with how the Board of Governors does things.
“There’s a sense that there’s sort of an Olympian image of the Fed, that truth comes from on high, and so the process has to be one where arguments, disagreements, take place in a controlled environment,” said Demos senior fellow Wally Turbeville.
