Not really sure about Powell or Brainard, but the combination of Yellen and Fischer adds up to a Fed with more Clue than in a long time.

Now, the others do matter, because Yellen cannot dictate all policies, even with Fischer's support...

Powell, on the face of it, is the standard 1% toadying NCE jackass.

Have to dig deeper to find papers he wrote while at the Bipartisan Policy Center to know for sure.


She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

Obama picks ex-Bank of Israel head as No. 2 at Fed  WaPo

Obama said he will nominate Stanley Fischer, a former head of the Bank of Israel, for the No. 2 job at the Fed. He would replace Yellen, who was confirmed this week to lead the Fed.

Fischer, a dual citizen of the United States and Israel, was a long-time professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Departing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Mario Draghi, the current head of the European Central Bank, were among his students.

Obama also is nominating Lael Brainard as a Fed governor. Brainard served as the undersecretary for international affairs at Treasury during Obama's first term. She left the administration recently. He also is renominating Jerome Powell to the Fed for a second term.

Fischer and Brainard bring expertise on the global economy, especially Fischer, who has just finished a long term as head of the Bank of Israel where he got practical experience in the problems facing smaller economies. Jerome Powell was formerly with the Carlisle Group. He may represent a reward for prior contributions and be part of an ongoing effort to maintain support from the financial sector, especially private equity.  

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

No objection to Fischer.  Seems like a good complement to Yellen.  Seems to have done a respectable job at the Bank of Israel.

The other two seem like strange choices.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

Meet, the new boss, same as the old boss.  Although Fischer can't help but be an improvement, I'm waiting for the Arab reaction.  At least Obama is acknowledging the Fed has a significant, international aspect and is staffing accordingly.