Janet Yellen
Encyclopedia
Janet Louise Yellen is an American economist
and professor
, who is currently the Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Previously, she was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
, Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers
under President Bill Clinton
, and Professor Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley
's Haas School of Business
.
in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn. She graduated magna cum laude from Brown University
with a degree in economics in 1967, and received her Ph.D.
in economics from Yale University
in 1971.
to full-time and part-time MBA students. She is now a Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley
's Haas School of Business
, where she was the Eugene E. and Catherine M. Trefethen Professor of Business and Professor of Economics. Twice she has been awarded the Haas School's outstanding teaching award.
Yellen served as chair of President Bill Clinton
's Council of Economic Advisers
from February 13, 1997 to 1999, and was appointed as a member of the Federal Reserve System's Board of Governors from 1994 to 1997. She has taught at Harvard University
and at the London School of Economics
. Yellen serves as president of the Western Economic Association International and is a former vice president of the American Economic Association
. She is a fellow of the Yale Corporation
.
On June 14, 2004, Yellen became the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
. She was a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee
(FOMC) in 2009.
Yellen is considered by many on Wall Street
to be an "inflation dove" (as concerned with unemployment as inflation) and as such to be less likely to advocate Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, as compared, for example, to William Poole
(former St. Louis Fed president) an "inflation hawk" (see definitions under Inflation
).
In July 2009, Yellen was mentioned as a potential successor to Ben Bernanke
as chairman of the Federal Reserve System
, before he was renominated by Barack Obama
.
According to Fed Salary figures released for 2009, Yellen earned $410,000 that year as San Francisco Fed President, more than twice Chairman Ben Bernanke ($199,700) whose pay is limited by law.
as vice-chairman of the Federal Reserve System
. In July, "[t]he Senate Banking Committee voted 17 to 6 to confirm her, though the top Republican
on the panel, Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama
, voted no, saying he believed Ms. Yellen had an 'inflationary bias.'" At the same time, on the heels of concerned testimony by Fed chair Bernanke, FOMC voting member James B. Bullard
of the St; Louis Fed made a statement that the U.S. economy was "at risk of becoming 'enmeshed in a Japanese-style deflationary outcome within the next several years.'" Bullard's statement was interpreted as a possible shift within the FOMC balance between inflation hawks and doves. Yellen's pending confirmation, along with those of Peter A. Diamond
and Sarah Bloom Raskin
to fill vacancies, was seen as possibly furthering such a shift in the FOMC. All three nominations were seen as "on track to be confirmed by the Senate."
On October 4, 2010, Yellen was sworn in for a 4-year term ending October 4, 2014. Dr. Yellen simultaneously began a 14-year term as a member of the Federal Reserve Board that will expire January 31, 2024.
On October 11, 2010, in her first public speech as Vice Chair, Yellen stepped away from dovish rhetoric
with respect to low interest rates. She stated, "It is conceivable that accommodative monetary policy could provide tinder for a buildup of leverage and excessive risk-taking in the financial system."
, a Nobel prize
-winning economist and professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. Her son, Robert Akerlof is currently a postdoctoral associate in Applied Economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management
.
in 2000. In October 2010, she received the prestigious Adam Smith Award from the National Association for Business Economics (NABE)
.
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
and professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, who is currently the Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Previously, she was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is the federal bank for the twelfth district in the United States. The twelfth district is made up of nine western states-—Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington--plus the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa,...
, Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers
Council of Economic Advisers
The Council of Economic Advisers is an agency within the Executive Office of the President that advises the President of the United States on economic policy...
under President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, and Professor Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
's Haas School of Business
Haas School of Business
The Walter A. Haas School of Business, also known as the Haas School of Business or simply Haas, is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley....
.
Early life and education
Yellen was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Fort Hamilton High SchoolFort Hamilton High School
Fort Hamilton High School is a public high school in Brooklyn, New York, USA, under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Education. Students in Bay Ridge, Sunset Park and Dyker Heights are zoned to Fort Hamilton HS. It has stood overlooking the Narrows and Lower New York Bay since...
in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn. She graduated magna cum laude from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
with a degree in economics in 1967, and received her Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in economics from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1971.
Career
Beginning in 1980, Yellen has been conducting research at the Haas School and teaching macroeconomicsMacroeconomics
Macroeconomics is a branch of economics dealing with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of the whole economy. This includes a national, regional, or global economy...
to full-time and part-time MBA students. She is now a Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
's Haas School of Business
Haas School of Business
The Walter A. Haas School of Business, also known as the Haas School of Business or simply Haas, is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley....
, where she was the Eugene E. and Catherine M. Trefethen Professor of Business and Professor of Economics. Twice she has been awarded the Haas School's outstanding teaching award.
Yellen served as chair of President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's Council of Economic Advisers
Council of Economic Advisers
The Council of Economic Advisers is an agency within the Executive Office of the President that advises the President of the United States on economic policy...
from February 13, 1997 to 1999, and was appointed as a member of the Federal Reserve System's Board of Governors from 1994 to 1997. She has taught at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. Yellen serves as president of the Western Economic Association International and is a former vice president of the American Economic Association
American Economic Association
The American Economic Association, or AEA, is a learned society in the field of economics, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It publishes one of the most prestigious academic journals in economics: the American Economic Review...
. She is a fellow of the Yale Corporation
Yale Corporation
The Yale Corporation, sometimes, and more formally, known as The President and Fellows of Yale College, is the governing body of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.The Corporation comprises 19 members:...
.
On June 14, 2004, Yellen became the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is the federal bank for the twelfth district in the United States. The twelfth district is made up of nine western states-—Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington--plus the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa,...
. She was a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee
Federal Open Market Committee
The Federal Open Market Committee , a committee within the Federal Reserve System, is charged under United States law with overseeing the nation's open market operations . It is the Federal Reserve committee that makes key decisions about interest rates and the growth of the United States money...
(FOMC) in 2009.
Yellen is considered by many on Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
to be an "inflation dove" (as concerned with unemployment as inflation) and as such to be less likely to advocate Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, as compared, for example, to William Poole
William Poole (Federal Reserve Bank president)
William Poole was the eleventh chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He took office on March 23, 1998 and began serving his full term on March 1, 2001. In 2007, he served as a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, bringing his District's perspective to policy...
(former St. Louis Fed president) an "inflation hawk" (see definitions under Inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
).
In July 2009, Yellen was mentioned as a potential successor to Ben Bernanke
Ben Bernanke
Ben Shalom Bernanke is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. During his tenure as Chairman, Bernanke has overseen the response of the Federal Reserve to late-2000s financial crisis....
as chairman of the Federal Reserve System
Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907...
, before he was renominated by Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
.
According to Fed Salary figures released for 2009, Yellen earned $410,000 that year as San Francisco Fed President, more than twice Chairman Ben Bernanke ($199,700) whose pay is limited by law.
Vice Chairmanship
On April 28, 2010, President Obama nominated Yellen to succeed Donald KohnDonald Kohn
Donald Lewis Kohn is an American economist who served as the former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He is considered a moderate dove on fiscal policy. He retired after 40 years at the central bank in September, 2010.-Early life and family:Kohn was born in...
as vice-chairman of the Federal Reserve System
Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907...
. In July, "[t]he Senate Banking Committee voted 17 to 6 to confirm her, though the top Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
on the panel, Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, voted no, saying he believed Ms. Yellen had an 'inflationary bias.'" At the same time, on the heels of concerned testimony by Fed chair Bernanke, FOMC voting member James B. Bullard
James B. Bullard
James B. Bullard is the 12th president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He is currently serving a term that began on March 1, 2011. Dr. Bullard succeeded William Poole as president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank on April 1, 2008....
of the St; Louis Fed made a statement that the U.S. economy was "at risk of becoming 'enmeshed in a Japanese-style deflationary outcome within the next several years.'" Bullard's statement was interpreted as a possible shift within the FOMC balance between inflation hawks and doves. Yellen's pending confirmation, along with those of Peter A. Diamond
Peter A. Diamond
Peter Arthur Diamond is an American economist known for his analysis of U.S. Social Security policy and his work as an advisor to the Advisory Council on Social Security in the late 1980s and 1990s. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2010, along with Dale T. Mortensen...
and Sarah Bloom Raskin
Sarah Bloom Raskin
Sarah Bloom Raskin is an American attorney and regulator, who is currently a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Previously, she served as Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation.-Early life and education:...
to fill vacancies, was seen as possibly furthering such a shift in the FOMC. All three nominations were seen as "on track to be confirmed by the Senate."
On October 4, 2010, Yellen was sworn in for a 4-year term ending October 4, 2014. Dr. Yellen simultaneously began a 14-year term as a member of the Federal Reserve Board that will expire January 31, 2024.
On October 11, 2010, in her first public speech as Vice Chair, Yellen stepped away from dovish rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
with respect to low interest rates. She stated, "It is conceivable that accommodative monetary policy could provide tinder for a buildup of leverage and excessive risk-taking in the financial system."
Personal life
Yellen is Jewish, and is married to George AkerlofGeorge Akerlof
George Arthur Akerlof is an American economist and Koshland Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics George Arthur Akerlof (born June 17, 1940) is an American economist and Koshland Professor of Economics at the University of...
, a Nobel prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
-winning economist and professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. Her son, Robert Akerlof is currently a postdoctoral associate in Applied Economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management
MIT Sloan School of Management
The MIT Sloan School of Management is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
.
Honors and awards
Yellen received the Wilbur Cross Medal from Yale in 1997, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Brown in 1998, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Bard CollegeBard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...
in 2000. In October 2010, she received the prestigious Adam Smith Award from the National Association for Business Economics (NABE)
National Association for Business Economics
The National Association for Business Economics is the largest international association of applied economists, strategists, academics, and policy-makers committed to the application of economics. Founded in 1959, it is one of the member organizations of the Allied Social Sciences Association...
.
Positions held
- 2004–present, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
- 1997–1999 Chair, President's Council of Economic Advisors
- 1994–1997 Member, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- 1985–present Professor, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
- 1982–1985 Associate Professor, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
- 1980–1982 Assistant Professor, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
- 1978–1980 Lecturer, London School of Economics and Political Science
- 1977–1978 Economist, Division of International Finance, Trade and Financial Studies Section, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- 1971–1976 Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Harvard University
- 1974 Research Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
External service and assignments
- President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
- Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2001
- Vice President, Western Economics Association, 2001
- Fellow, Yale Corporation 2000–
- Member, National Academy of Sciences Panel on Ensuring the Best Presidential Science and Technology Appointments, 2000
- Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1999–
- Advisory Board, Center for International Political Economy, 1999–
- Advisory Board, Brookings Panel on Economic Activity, 1999
- Chair: Economic Policy Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 1997–1999
- President's Interagency Committee on Women's Business Enterprise (1997)
- Member and adviser: Brookings Panel on Economic Activity (senior advisor); Advisor Panel in Economics, National Science Foundation;
- Advisor: Congressional Budget Office
- Research fellow: Yale University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Trustee of the Economists for Peace and Security
Current research and interests
- Unemployment and labor markets
- Monetary and fiscal policies
- International trade and investment policy
Selected papers and publications
- "The Fabulous Decade: macroeconomic Lessons from the 1990s" (with Alan Binder), The Century Foundation Press, New York, 2001
- "Trends in Income Inequality and Policy Responses," Looking Ahead, October 1997 and James Auerbach and Richard Belous, eds., "The Inequality Paradox: Growth of Income Disparity," National Policy Association, 1998
- "The Continuing Importance of Trade Liberalization," Business Economics (1998).
- "Monetary Policy: Goals and Strategy," Business Economics (July 1996).
- "An Analysis of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing in the United States," (with George Akerlof and Michael Katz). Quarterly Journal of Economics (May 1996).
- "East Germany In From the Cold: The Economic Aftermath of Currency Union" (with George Akerlof, Andrew Rose, and Helga Hessenius), Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 1991:1.
- "How Large are the Losses from Rule of Thumb Behavior in Models of the Business Cycle?" (with George Akerlof) in Willima Brainard, William Nordhaus, and Harold Watts, eds. Money, Macroeconomics and Economic Policy: Essays in Honor of James Tobin, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press (1991).