The economist could become the vice chair of the Fed board.
(Photo: Reuters)
Washington US President Joe Biden wants to fill vacant positions at the US Federal Reserve (Fed) as quickly as possible and is focusing on diversity. He has nominated Sarah Bloom Raskin for the post of deputy Fed chair, who will specifically deal with banking regulation. Raskin, who has both an economics and law degree, served as Fed governor from 2010 to 2014 and then as deputy treasury secretary under US President Barack Obama.
Biden nominated professors Lisa Cook from Michigan State University and Philip Jefferson from Davidson College in North Carolina for the other two open positions. Both are African American. This would make Cook the first black woman to serve on the Fed’s board of directors, which is dominated by white men.
All candidates have yet to be confirmed by the Senate. If successful, it would be the most diverse body with a total of four women and two African Americans. But that is not out of the box. Bloom Raskin urges the Fed to take a more active role in climate regulation. That goes down well with Biden’s Democrats, but is met with resistance from Republicans.
Biden’s nominee for the second Fed vice-chairman, Lael Brainard, was in the Senate hearing on Thursday. There, many Republican senators made it clear that they were not willing to compromise on the issue. They fear that Biden could introduce climate regulation through the back door via the central bank.
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“President Biden has nominated a reputable, qualified and bipartisan group of five candidates for the Federal Reserve Board of Directors who, together, will bring an extraordinary level of skill, experience and expertise to the Federal Reserve,” an insider said. The appointments would fill the ranks of the seven-member body, which was recently thinned out due to controversial securities transactions.
Biden has also nominated Fed Chair Jerome Powell for a second term. It is considered very likely that Powell will get the necessary majorities in the Senate. Even if his decision not to fight rising inflation in the US sooner has been sharply criticized by economists in particular.
With agency material
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