Fed nominee Yellen has short ag record
October 09, 2013 | 06:43 PM
Janet Yellen, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Federal Reserve system, has not had much to say about agriculture but there is a record of at least two speeches and some research that took place under her direction.
Obama nominated Yellen, the current vice chairwoman of the Fed, today to succeed Ben Bernanke, the current president.
The Yellen nomination followed the decision of Larry Summers, a former Treasury secretary, White House adviser and Harvard University president, to withdraw his name after many Senate Democrats and others opposed his nomination, saying he has a hard time working with other people.
Janet Yellen
If confirmed, Yellen would become the first woman to head the Fed. She is viewed by other economists as a “dove,” more concerned with unemployment than inflation. She appears unlikely to favor higher interest rates or to end the current Fed policy of intervening in the economy.
Yellen has not made many statements on agriculture, but she said in a speech in iNew York in 2011 that the increase in commodity prices at that time could be explained “largely by rising global demand and disruptions to global supply rather than by Federal Reserve policy.”
In 1998, when Yellen was chairwoman of President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors, she testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee to explain Clinton’s position on the Kyoto Protocol environmental agreement. The United States signed the protocol but never ratified it.
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, where Yellen served as president from 2004 to 2010, has published a substantial amount of agricultural research.
Obama nominated Yellen, the current vice chairwoman of the Fed, today to succeed Ben Bernanke, the current president.
The Yellen nomination followed the decision of Larry Summers, a former Treasury secretary, White House adviser and Harvard University president, to withdraw his name after many Senate Democrats and others opposed his nomination, saying he has a hard time working with other people.
Janet Yellen
If confirmed, Yellen would become the first woman to head the Fed. She is viewed by other economists as a “dove,” more concerned with unemployment than inflation. She appears unlikely to favor higher interest rates or to end the current Fed policy of intervening in the economy.
Yellen has not made many statements on agriculture, but she said in a speech in iNew York in 2011 that the increase in commodity prices at that time could be explained “largely by rising global demand and disruptions to global supply rather than by Federal Reserve policy.”
In 1998, when Yellen was chairwoman of President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors, she testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee to explain Clinton’s position on the Kyoto Protocol environmental agreement. The United States signed the protocol but never ratified it.
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, where Yellen served as president from 2004 to 2010, has published a substantial amount of agricultural research.
