The Patriot Post® · Yellen Tapped to Head Federal Reserve

After months of debate over Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s successor, Barack Obama has chosen Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen to fill the post by February. “If confirmed,” reports The Wall Street Journal, “Ms. Yellen, 67 years old, would become the first female Fed chief in its 100-year history. She would also be the first Democrat in the position since Paul Volcker left the Fed in 1987.” She’s almost certain to be confirmed, as many Senate Democrats lined up behind her early on. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) praised Yellen’s “great experience” and “great judgment” and said she would make a “terrific” chair. But then, that’s hardly a reassuring endorsement given the source.

What this means is that the Fed is unlikely to drastically change course from its easy-money and low-interest policies any time soon. Indeed, Yellen has suggested near-zero interest rates into 2016. And, of course, “quantitative easing” – essentially printing more money – is one of the primary methods of keeping the government afloat with its astronomical Obama debt, and Yellen’s job will be covering for her boss. In March, she said, “I view the balance of risks as still calling for a highly accommodative monetary policy to support a stronger recovery and more-rapid growth in employment.” That hasn’t exactly worked out very well for the last five years.