New York Fed names AFL-CIO's Hughes as chairman

[question everything]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday named labor leader Denis Hughes as chairman of its board of directors, filling a vacancy created when the previous chairman stepped down amid questions over his purchases of Goldman Sachs (GS.N) stock.

Hughes, who has served as acting chairman since Stephen Friedman stepped down in May and who is president of the New York State AFL-CIO, was named chairman for the remainder of 2009.

Regional Fed bank chairmen are designated annually. The U.S. central bank is comprised of a seven-member Board of Governors in Washington and 12 regional Fed banks.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2414172...

[Captain Hilts]

1. Wow! Good move!

[Sanity Claws]

2. Labor leader on the Fed board? As chairman?

Is this as unusual as it sounds to me?

[question everything]

3. Of the New York bank

the position previously held by Timothy Geithner, the current Secretary of the Treasury.

[roamer65]

5. Geithner was President of the NY FRB.

The presidency of a district FRB is where the power is located. The current president of the NY FRB is William Dudley.

[prairierose]

4. That is a really good question..it was my first thought too...

I hope that someone has the answer. I would be really interested in finding out.

[question everything]

7. From the WSJ story

The New York Fed chairmanship typically has gone to prominent Wall Street executives or academics. The ascension of a labor leader is a new twist for the New York Fed and a sign of the public pressure the Fed has been under to loosen its close ties to Wall Street.

[question everything]

8. Delete, dupe

[notesdev]

6. "Welcome to the Board"

"Here, hold this bag."