Senator Warren doubts whether Fischer should be vice chairman of Fed

[n2doc]

United States Senator Elizabeth Warren has expressed reservations about Stanley Fischer as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, in an interview that aired on Bloomberg TV on Friday.

Speaking on the program “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” the Massachusetts Democrat and longtime consumer advocate said she expects incoming Federal Reserve Board Chairman Janet Yellen will be a more aggressive financial regulator than her predecessor, Ben S. Bernanke.

"I want to be hopeful," Warren said, when asked whether Fischer is a good choice for vice chairman.

"This is a hard time right now for the Federal Reserve," she said. "This economy has not recovered the way it should coming out of this recession. And what we’re seeing is the Federal Reserve has very limited tools. And in a world in which Congress is willing to act, a world in which Congress is not cutting back on spending using the sequester to cut back, shutting down the government, costing the economy $24 billion, Congress is supposed to do its part, the Fed does its part.

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http://www.haaretz.com/business/1.568135

[MADem]

1. "Lukewarm!"

Elizabeth Warren lukewarm on Stanley Fischer as Fed vice chairman

....That’s not a hard “no” on Fischer from Warren, but it’s cause for concern. Opposition from Warren and other liberal senators helped sink Larry Summers’ prospects for running the central bank. He withdrew from consideration in September, and the job ultimately went to Janet Yellen.

In the Bloomberg TV interview, scheduled to air Friday night, Warren sounds more concerned about the Fed than Fischer himself. The 70-year-old Fischer, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, was most recently governor of the Israeli central bank.

Obama will nominate Fischer to the post later Friday, reports said.

“This is a hard time right now for the Federal Reserve,” Warren says about the Fed. “Right now, the Fed just has very limited tools with monetary policy. And it keeps playing kind of the – working with the one tool that it’s got.”

Asked whether she likes Fischer, her reply is: “I want to – I want to be hopeful that Fischer’s going to work in the right direction. I am not sure.”