ECONOMY/FEDERAL RESERVE/GARY COHN/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump is unlikely to nominate Gary Cohn, his top economic adviser, as the next Federal Reserve chairman, according to people familiar with the president’s thinking, adding to the uncertainty over the U.S. central bank’s leadership and policies next year.
Mr. Trump told The Wall Street Journal in July that he was considering Mr. Cohn as a potential successor to Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen, whose term as central bank chief expires in early February.
The change in thinking comes at a time of great uncertainty over the top ranks of the world’s most important central bank. Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said Wednesday [9-6-17] he will resign in mid-October for personal reasons, adding another vacancy to the three others on the powerful seven-member Fed board of governors. His departure accelerates Mr. Trump’s opportunity to put his stamp on the central bank.
Candidate Trump was critical of the central bank and Ms. Yellen last year, publicly chiding her during the campaign for keeping interest rates too low, which Mr. Trump said benefited Democrats.
The shift in Mr. Cohn’s prospects for the top Fed job arises largely from his criticism of Mr. Trump’s response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va., the people familiar with the matter said.
The president said in the Journal interview that he was also considering whether to nominate Ms. Yellen for a second term. Mr. Trump has told people that he is impressed with Ms. Yellen, leaving them with the sense he might ask her to serve another term.”
-Michael C. Bender, Harriet Torry, and Nick Timiraos, “President Trump Unlikely to Nominate Gary Cohn to Become Fed Chairman,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 6, 2017 07:39pm