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Stanley Fischer. (Bloomberg) |
Stanley Fischer’s bid to be Federal Reserve vice chairman won support Tuesday from a Senate panel, sending the former Bank of Israel governor’s nomination to the full chamber for confirmation.
The Senate Banking Committee approved Fischer in a voice vote. The panel also backed the nominations of Lael Brainard and Jerome Powell as Fed governors.
Fischer, 70, would become Chair Janet Yellen’s top lieutenant as she presses on with tapering bond purchases that have expanded the Fed’s balance sheet to a record $4.28 trillion, raising concern about asset-price bubbles. He may also help Yellen overhaul the Fed’s strategy for signaling the future path of the main interest rate, which has been held near zero since December 2008.
“He’s an intellectual powerhouse,” said Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank AG in New York, who was a researcher at the International Monetary Fund when Fischer was its No. 2 official. “People in markets see him as a very strong and reasonable candidate who knows what’s going on in economics and markets and politics.”
Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho, the banking committee’s top Republican, said the nominees understand the Fed’s challenges “in returning to normalized monetary policy” and have a grasp of “how the cumulative impact of regulations could impair our economy.”
Powell was renominated for a second term after joining the central bank two years ago, and Brainard is a former U.S. Treasury undersecretary for international affairs who would fill an empty board seat.
Senator Tim Johnson, the South Dakota Democrat who heads the banking committee, said during the hearing that “it is important we move quickly to have as many governors in place as possible.” The May 28 departure of Gov. Jeremy Stein, who is returning to Harvard University, will leave just three of seven board seats filled. (Bloomberg)
