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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLarry Summers the odds-on favorite in bets for Fed chair; Yellen lags
Well this is interesting.
By Ann Saphir
SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Aug 13, 2013 3:04pm EDT
(Reuters) - Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers has the inside track in the race to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve, betting at a popular online bookmaker suggests.
On Tuesday, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power offered odds of 1/2 for Summers. That translates to a view that Summers has about a 48 percent chance of being the next Fed chair, a spokesman for the firm said.
Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen was priced at 2/1 against, meaning that successful punters would win two pounds for every one staked. Put another way, prices suggest Yellen has about a 24 percent chance at landing the top spot at the U.S. central bank.
At Paddy Power, there are 2,000 pounds at stake with 50 unique bets placed -- a small market compared with, say, bets placed on the name of the Royal baby or a standard football match, but a "decent size" market compared with other financial markets, the spokesman said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/13/us-usa-fed-fedchair-bets-idUSBRE97C0SO20130813
It appears Wall Street wants Janet Yellen as next Fed chair, not Summers.
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Participants, who include economists, traders and strategists, say monetary policy expertise is the most important quality for a new Fed chairman.
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Asked to judge the two supposed front-runners on these qualities, Yellen beat Summers in seven of 10 categories, including four of the top five.
In fact, Yellen got much higher grades from the Street on monetary policy expertise and concern about unemployment, which is a major issue for President Obama. Summers is seen having more respect from international leaders, greater concern about inflation and a higher level of financial market expertise.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100917426
It appears Obama would be bucking Wall Street if he appoints Summers as next Fed chief. Isn't this what people want? Don't people actually want Obama to buck Wall Street?
msongs
(67,502 posts)Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)pa28
(6,145 posts)A track record of failure as spectacular as Larry's deserves special acknowledgement.
BumRushDaShow
(130,043 posts)He would first have to be appointed to a seat as a governor (with Senate confirmatin required) before even being selected as a chair (another confirmation). Yellen is already vice-chair.
Safetykitten
(5,162 posts)whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)Last edited Fri Aug 16, 2013, 04:36 PM - Edit history (1)
"Obama isn't appointing a plutocrat vulture, he's bucking Wall Street.
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)The talking points were delivered this morning.
Igel
(35,390 posts)He has been involved in consulting and advising.
Yellen has not, at least not to anything like the same extent and she wasn't involved in his campaign.
I think Summers had the edge.
Obama strikes me as a man who values his own judgment far more than others' even if they have more experience and knowledge. If he knows somebody who's qualified and trusts him that will trump exceptional qualifications on the part of a stranger. The sheer number of superlative evaluations reflected on Yellen's CV might be enough for Obama to set aside his own judgment. But since Summers was loyal to him, personally, in helping get him elected, he's Obama's man ... Summers has a good shot.
cali
(114,904 posts)sorry you have a problem reading.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)By Ezra Klein
Bloomberg, Aug 1, 2013 9:37 AM ET
The strangest part of the increasingly bitter shadow campaign for chairman of the Federal Reserve is that the contest is not really about monetary policy. Its about financial regulation.
The two leading candidates for the job are Janet Yellen, the current vice chairman of the Fed, and Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary and an economics adviser to President Barack Obama. When it comes to monetary policy, they dont differ drastically. Both support the Fed policy to maintain low interest rates and continue asset purchases -- no premature tapering -- until unemployment falls significantly.
SNIP...
Yellen, meanwhile, has little record on these issues. Her supporters seem to prefer her mostly because shes not Summers. The question is whether you are prepared to beat up on the banks, yes or no, said Dean Baker, president of the liberal Center for Economic and Policy Research. If no, then everything else doesnt matter. With Summers youre picking someone you know is not. I dont know that Yellen is prepared to, either. But theres reason for hope that Yellen would be stronger on regulating finance.
The criticism of Yellen is that -- like Bernanke and Alan Greenspan before her -- regulating banks simply isnt something shes terribly interested in. Shes at the Federal Reserve because shes an excellent monetary economist. Theres little evidence she wants to spend her time watching over hedge funds. Her heart may be in the right place; her priorities might not be.
CONTINUED MISERY...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-01/six-of-janet-yellen-or-half-dozen-of-larry-summers-.html
Continue the Trickle Down misery.
octoberlib
(14,971 posts)Not to mention the fact he's stated publicly that women are genetically inferior to men and third world countries should be used as toxic waste dumps. What a total piece of shit.
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/24/sexist_larry_summers_will_destroy_the_economy/
In the 1990s, Summers and then-Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin led the effort to stop Brooksley Born from regulating derivatives, precisely the financial instruments that magnified the housing bubble and accelerated the financial collapse. Under his watch as treasury secretary, Congress eliminated Glass-Steagalls firewall between commercial and investment banks, legalizing the merger of Citigroup (where Rubin would serve as director, senior counsel and Board Chairman). He further oversaw passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which banned all regulation of derivatives, even from state anti-gambling laws. Even Bill Clinton has apologized for deregulation of the riskiest sector in finance; Summers has not. Even well after the crisis, in 2011, Summers pronounced himself more cautious than many about constraining financial innovation, a not-so-thinly veiled code for encouraging a return to casino activity on Wall Street.