Capital Commerce: Race is on at the Fed
Although Washington is currently consumed by speculation about the name of the next Supreme Court nominee, attention will soon shift toward the Federal Reserve. Alan Greenspan's term as Fed chairman is over at the end of January 2006.
The maestro's possible successor? According to the popular Internet betting site Intrade, Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, is the most likely choice, with a 40 percent probability of being selected. After him comes Martin Feldstein, Harvard economist (27 percent); Lawrence Lindsey, former director of the National Economic Council and former Federal Reserve governor (20 percent); and Glenn Hubbard, former CEA chairman and dean of Columbia's business school. But whom would corporate America pick to succeed Greenspan? According to a recent survey of 315 chief financial officers, the suits' top choice is Feldstein (28 percent) followed closely by Robert Rubin, treasury secretary under President Clinton. In the survey, conducted by Financial Executives International and Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business, Bernanke was chosen by just 4 percent of respondents.
Capital Commerce tells usnews.com readers how decisions made in Washington affect business.