Pete Davis on Bernanke Confirmation Jitters
Brad DeLong submits:
Peter Davis (Bernanke Confirmation Jitters | Capital Gains and Games): Ben Bernanke will be confirmed by the Senate for a second term as Fed Chair, but the market is already jittery that it won’t happen by the end of his term at midnight, January 31. That has set off quite a behind-the-scenes debate whether Fed Vice Chair Don Kohn would take over temporarily until the Senate voted.... The confusion over Bernanke’s continuation as Fed Chair arose on December 17, 2009, when Senate Banking Chair Chris Dodd (D-CT) had this exchange with Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) toward the end of the Committee meeting which voted 16-7 to nominate Ben Bernanke for another term as Fed Chair: BUNNING: Briefly. It's my understanding that what you have said about Chairman Bernanke after the 30th of January is incorrect. DODD: Well, I'll defer to staff. I raised the question, I was told that was the issue, that he could be a member of the board, but could not serve as chair of the Federal Reserve. BUNNING: Temporarily appointed as chair? DODD: The vice chair would serve. Bunning remembered, as does the market, that Alan Greenspan served as "Chairman Pro Tempore" beyond the expiration of his term from March 3, 1996 to June 20, 1996. The Fed web site also shows Marriner S. Eccles served from February 3, 1948 to April 15, 1948 after the expiration of his term. In neither case did the Vice Chair step in. Fed and congressional attorneys are still debating this...Complete Story »
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