US Media Reports Appointment of First Female US Treasury Secretary in History
Tasked with COVID Unemployment and Economic Recovery
White House Economic Team Expected to Include Progressives
[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Baek Jong-min] It has been reported that President-elect Joe Biden has chosen former Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Janet Yellen as the person responsible for restoring the U.S. economy, which has plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the General Services Administration (GSA) officially recognizing Biden as the president-elect, the pace of appointments in the White House and Treasury Department, as well as the executive branch, is expected to accelerate following Yellen's nomination.
On the 23rd (local time), major U.S. media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times simultaneously reported that former Chair Yellen has been nominated as the first Treasury Secretary of the Biden administration.
Yellen was initially mentioned alongside Lael Brainard, Fed Governor, and Senator Elizabeth Warren as potential candidates for Treasury Secretary, but she did not receive much attention at first. In fact, Brainard was considered more likely.
Yellen's rapid rise came after President-elect Biden described her as a figure welcomed by both the moderate and progressive wings of the Democratic Party. During her tenure as Fed Chair, she was classified as a "dove," meaning she did not take a clear confrontational stance with either side, which was seen as her greatest strength.
Since she has actively voiced support for measures such as the introduction of a carbon emissions tax to address climate change, even the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is considered to have weak grounds for opposition.
Local media predicted Yellen's appointment as Treasury Secretary immediately after Biden's remarks. Given that Yellen secured Republican support during her Senate confirmation as Fed Chair, U.S. media expect her to pass confirmation smoothly.
If Yellen passes Senate confirmation, she will become the first female Treasury Secretary in the 231-year history of the U.S. Treasury Department. Having already served as the first female Chair of the Fed and as Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, she is expected to be recorded as the first to hold all three positions.
Former Chair Yellen graduated from Brown University and earned a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University. She is a distinguished labor economist who began her public service career as Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers during the Bill Clinton administration in 1997. She served as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Vice Chair of the Fed, and was nominated as Fed Chair in 2014, a position often called the "world's economic president."
She took office at a time when the U.S. economy was recovering from the global financial crisis and supported the recovery by maintaining a low interest rate policy, earning the nickname "Dove Yellen." Although she ended unprecedented quantitative easing measures and initiated monetary tightening, the U.S. economy prospered under the Donald Trump administration until the COVID-19 crisis.
Despite favorable reviews, Yellen failed to secure a second term after her first term ended in 2018. This was the first time in 40 years since former Chair William Miller in the late 1970s that a Fed Chair failed to be reappointed.
Yellen now faces the difficult tasks of resolving the massive unemployment crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and negotiating additional economic stimulus packages.
The New York Times evaluated that she will also take on the political role of negotiating with the Senate controlled by the Republican Party. In particular, she must cooperate with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, to whom she handed over her position, and work to restore the U.S. economy to its pre-COVID-19 state. She has become the key figure responsible for the "Build Back Better" agenda emphasized by President-elect Biden.
Although neither the transition team nor Yellen has confirmed the reports, Jen Psaki, senior advisor to the transition team, announced that some appointments in the economic sector will be announced early next week.
In addition to Yellen, it is highly likely that the chairs of the National Economic Council (NEC) and the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) will also be announced.
Politico predicted that Ben Harris, known as Biden's economic teacher, former NEC Director Gene Sperling, and former Biden Vice President economic advisor Jared Bernstein could be appointed as NEC Chair or CEA Chair. Politico expects the White House economic team to be filled with progressive figures compared to the Treasury Secretary.
The market immediately welcomed Yellen's emergence. Upon news of Yellen's nomination as Treasury Secretary, the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the New York Stock Exchange expanded its gains late in the session and closed up 1.12%.
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