Janet Yellen’s short but groundbreaking stint as chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors left an enduring mark on the central bank and legions of women in economics.
Yellen became the first woman to chair the Fed in 2014. She took the helm of the central bank amid a heated debate over how soon the Fed should pull back from the near-zero interest rates deployed to guide the economy through the 2008 recession and its aftermath.
Yellen had advocated for keeping rates near zero percent for as long as necessary. When she was nominated to lead the Fed in October 2013, the unemployment rate was 7.2 percent. But Yellen’s conservative critics warned that her stance would spur inflation to dangerously high levels.
Ultimately, Yellen’s patient approach paid off. A series of five rate increases spread across three years brought the Fed’s baseline interest rate range closer to neutral levels and the unemployment rate down to 4.1 percent by February 2018.
Yellen’s successor, Jerome Powell, advanced a key aspect of her legacy.
“Chair Yellen led the U.S. economy in an unprecedented transition from a deep recession and financial crisis into the longest post-war expansion in history,” Powell said in a statement to The Hill. “Her keen judgment, honed in an extraordinary academic career, combined with a lifelong dedication to public service, and concern for how the economy affects disparate groups led her to make history as the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve and as one of the most influential economic policymakers of our time.”
— Sylvan Lane
photo: Getty Images