Obama doubles number of economists on FOMC

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

When Obama appoints Janet Yellen as Fed Vice Chairman it will double the number of economists on the Fed board and Fed open market committee.

To two.

The other economist is, of course, Ben Bernanke. The rest are former bankers and other "business leader" types.

The single government action likeliest to most determine whether Obama is re-elected is whether the Fed raises rates in the next two years.

Some members of the board and the FOMC are already champing at the bit to raise rates because it seems like "common sense."

The argument for keeping rates at zero even if some inflation develops is very, very strong but also very academic.

Bernanke is likely to get it and Yellen will add another "gets it" voice.

This is particularly important because gas is likely to hit $3.00 this summer, increasing the erroneous public perception that inflation exists. (There is no core inflation in this economy. Really.)