耶伦若当选美联储主席会让联储立场更强硬(英文).doc

Yellen Would Bring Tougher Tone to Fed
Some Say Potential Chairwoman's Leadership Style Would Contrast With Bernanke's
Janet Yellen, the lead candidate to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, brings a demanding and harder-driving leadership style to the central bank, in contrast to Mr. Bernanke's low-key and often understated approach.
Ms. Yellen, the Fed vice chairwoman, is highly regarded by many central bank staff members, who call her an effective leader with a sharp mind. But she has clashed with others and left some hard feelings in the wake of those confrontations, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former staff members and officials who worked with her directly in recent years.
Most agree that Ms. Yellen—who has climbed the ranks from Fed researcher to Fed governor and regional Fed bank president, in between stints outside the central bank—is exacting and exceptionally detail-oriented.
At Fed policy meetings, Ms. Yellen is courteous, respectful, serious and meticulously prepared, according to officials who have attended meetings with her. She has staked out strong positions in favor of the Fed's easy-money policies that sometimes put her at odds with opponents of the policies, these people said.
When Lawrence Summers, the former U.S. Treasury secretary, was seen as the favorite to succeed Mr. Bernanke next year, his sometimes-combative style received substantial attention. Ms. Yellen often was described as milder-mannered and better at building consensus.
Mr. Summers announced a week ago he was pulling out of consideration for the Fed chairmanship, citing a potentially acrimonious confirmation vote in the Senate.
Now that administration officials term Ms. Yellen the front-runner, her leadership and management style are drawing more scrutiny. President Barack Obama is expected to announce his nominee in coming weeks.
People differ over Ms. Yellen's style and its effectiveness. Many senior Fed officials, including those who have opposed her on tough policy questions, say the 67-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., native would be easy to work with if picked to lead the institution.
"She listens to all sides of a debate," said Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, who wants the Fed to end its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program, which Ms. Yellen has strongly supported.
Some others who have worked with her behind the scenes disagree.
Dick Anderson, who served a brief stint as the chief operating officer of the Fed's Washington board, ending in December 2012, said, "Yellen's abrasive, intimidating style is probably more suited for a 'Mad Men' era as opposed to a modern office environment."
Mr. Anderson and Ms. Yellen clashed over a plan he proposed to cut spending by regional Fed banks, which she thought reached beyond his job description and resisted, according to people familiar with the matter.
Her style, Mr. Anderson said, sharply contrasted with Mr. Bernanke's style and wouldn't serve the Fed well.
A Fed spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
A harder-driving style by the Fed chief, if Ms. Yellen adopts one, could push the central bank toward more decisive action, but also could make an already fractious institution even more so.
The process for making interest-rate decisions has been unruly at times for Mr. Bernanke. The 12 regional Fed bank presidents are vocal and often have sharply divergent views; his six fellow Fed board governors are quieter publicly, but their strong private views can have a big influence on decisions. He has worked patiently behind the scenes at times to forge policy compromises.
Ms. Yellen has pushed the Fed to use low-interest-rate policies to spur faster economic growth and bring down unemployment, but some other officials doubt the policies work and worry they will have negative unintended consequences such as higher inflation. That disagreement hangs over current decisions about whether to start pulling back the bond-buying program.
If she becomes the Fed's leader, Ms. Yellen would be challenged to balance the demands of maintaining the institution's collegiality against her own drive to move the place toward her sometimes strongly held beliefs, including her support for easy-money programs.
In the process, both insiders and outsiders would be watching to see if she attempts to impose more discipline on the 18 other policy makers, some of whom publicly air their divergent views.
"Speaking with fewer voices is quite desirable," said Alan Blinder, a Princeton University professor and former Fed vice chairman. "The question is, can anyone accomplish it? I'm not sure anyone can at this point. But Janet Yellen, who has watched the [Fed] from every vantage point, probably has the best shot at it"
Every Fed leader brings to the job a different style. Alan Greenspan's quiet authority was rarely challenged during his 18-year rule. His predecessor, Paul Volcker, clashed with governors appointed by President Ronald Reagan.
Ms. Yellen has had tense relations at times with Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo, the Fed's point person on bank regulatory issues, according to people who know them. But Ms. Yellen seemed to signal they were on common ground in a speech in San Diego earlier this year when she endorsed his views on regulation.
Ms. Yellen and Mr. Tarullo don't have disagreements on any substantive issues, said a person familiar with their relationship.
"She is very much a consensus builder," said San Francisco Fed President John Williams, a Yellen fan who served as the San Francisco Fed bank's head of research when she was bank president, speaking in an interview in April.
As evidence, Mr. Williams pointed to an important but little-noticed "statement of objectives" that Ms. Yellen helped the Fed craft nearly two years ago. It established a 2% inflation target and a framework for the central bank to think about attaining its other goal of low unemployment.
The statement, which shapes many of the Fed's decisions, was hotly debated for months with many differing opinions, but a Fed committee Ms. Yellen ran completed it despite disagreements about what it should say.
Still, Ms. Yellen has been a polarizing figure among some Fed staff members in Washington, according to several current and former staff members. An armada of more than 300 Fed staff economists plays a central role in examining the banking system, analyzing the economy and formulating policies.
Ms. Yellen led reviews of the Fed's research divisions after becoming vice chairwoman. In the process, several people said, Ms. Yellen ruffled feathers in the Fed's important monetary-affairs group, which was exhausted and depleted by the financial crisis. This group does most of the ground work formulating the Fed's interest-rate decisions.
Yet some other Fed staff members described Ms. Yellen as an excellent collaborator, citing her intellect, organization and support for them and their work.