In praise of… Janet Yellen

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/27/in-praise-of-janet-yellen

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For the past five months, the world’s most important unelected official has been a 67-year-old former economics professor, who’s apparently still pre-gentrified Brooklyn enough to pronounce guide “goyd”. As central bankers go, America’s Janet Yellen has none of Mark Carney’s tonsured dash nor the timely rhetoric of the eurozone’s Mario “whatever it takes” Draghi. But since becoming chair of the Fed, Ms Yellen has displayed the greatest acuity about what rate-setters must do: “The low rate of wage growth is, to me, another sign that the Fed’s job is not yet done.” Bingo! While Mr Carney has set sights on unemployment, Ms Yellen doesn’t just want Americans off the dole – she wants them to get a pay rise too. And she appreciates that in the US (and UK) jobs market, the one doesn’t necessarily imply the other. All this would be welcomed by a former contributor to this paper, one J M Keynes. Now, Mr Carney, you should follow suit.