Trump’s candidate is an unusual choice as he is not an academic economist like recent Fed chairmen
A permanent member of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee thinks presidential adviser Gary Cohn is a viable replacement for Janet Yellen, current chair of the Fed’s board of governors, the Washington Examiner reported.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said he thinks Cohn is a “reasonable” candidate for the post, according to the report, citing an Associated Press interview.
"[Cohn] knows a lot about financial markets. He knows lots about the financial system," said Dudley, who also serves as vice-chairman of the FOMC, which formulates national monetary policy.
Both Cohn and Dudley are alumni of Goldman Sachs, with Dudley serving as chief economist during Cohn’s term as president of the bank. Cohn joined the bank in 2006 and left recently to join the Trump administration.
While Trump has previously said that he is considering Cohn to head the Fed, Cohn remains an unusual choice because unlike recent chairmen, he is not an academic economist, according to the report.
Dudley, whose term lasts until 2021, said he thinks it is not necessary to have a Ph.D. to be Fed chairman and that it is important to have a diverse set of monetary policymakers. He also said during the interview that the Trump administration has been “hands-off” with regard to interest rate deliberations by the Fed.
"They've been very respectful of the monetary policy, not to politicize the monetary policy process," he said.
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