Let's play "Guess Who'll Be The Next Fed Chair?"!

Every media outlet has been playing the game, including The Fiscal Times' Josh Boak,

Boak writes that a leak, or multiple leaks, to The Washington Post's Ezra Klein, indicating that Larry Summers is the front-runner for the job, is really helping another candidate, Janet Yellen.

Analyst Sean West at the Eurasia Group theorizes to Boak that the leak allowed politicos in Washington to test the waters and see how a Summers pick would sit both with the media and Congress.

Apparently, Boak writes, the the idea did not sit well with several Senate Democrats, including Sherrod Brown, who expressed their disapproval of Summers, and support of Yellen.

Summers' support of the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act is one of the biggest points of contention between him and the allies he would need to boost into the Fed chair, Boak reports. The leak may have been used to improve Yellen's image, as Republicans may criticize her support of QE3. Boak writes that Yellen's support for stimulus may look tame in comparison to Summers, who enthusiastically endorsed the $700 billion-plus stimulus.

However, this doesn't necessarily mean Yellen is the anointed one, however, Boak warns.

Roger Ferguson, former Vice chairman and CEO of TIAA-CREF [profile], has been suggested as a good choice for Fed chair, though he has denied wanting the spot.

To read more, click here.  

Edited by: Casey Quinlan


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