A woman at the Fed? WTF?

[August1991]

IMV, according to American liberal labels and perception of victim/minority status, this is bigger than the son of an African in the White House.

How many Catholics chaired the Fed?

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Now then, can Yellen sell all that crappy paper, and remove the dollars from holders?

Welcome to the New Federal Reserve: a PR extension of the White House.

[cybercoma]

What's with your fascination with Catholics vs Protestants? You seem to impute this into a lot of discussions where it's not readily evident why.

Edited July 19, 2013 by cybercoma

[Bonam]

What's with your fascination with Catholics vs Protestants? You seem to impute this into a lot of discussions where it's not readily evident why.

Cause he's a Quebecker~

[bleeding heart]

I'm baffled absolutely by the OP...but being a generous sort, I'll assume it's my own fault.

[August1991]

I'm baffled absolutely by the OP...but being a generous sort, I'll assume it's my own fault.

Obama is about to name a woman as chair of the US Fed, the US Central Bank. In the western world, we have had female heads of state, female heads of government and female supreme court judges but we have never had a female Central Banker. While Yellen is perfectly competent (IMHO a bit too academic, like Bernanke), I fear rather that the position may have become a PR exercise.

For the record, I think the Central Bank should be raised to the status of the Triumvirate: Congress, President, Court. (When the US Constitution was written, during the Enlightenment, understanding money's role in society was in its infancy.)

IOW, I would favour a US constitutional amendment creating an independent institution responsible for issuing money with a clear mechanism for choosing its leadership.

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BTW, Bernanke and Greenspan were Jewish. So was Disraeli, and Strauss-Kahn.

Edited July 19, 2013 by August1991

[August1991]

What's with your fascination with Catholics vs Protestants? You seem to impute this into a lot of discussions where it's not readily evident why.

For a long time, I was surprised how English-Canadians were upset with comparisons to Americans. Then it dawned on me: America is "largely" a Protestant country while Canada (English or French) is "largely" a Catholic country. Over 40% of Canadians declare themselves to be Catholic, the single largest religious group. In the US, Catholics are less than 20%. They're a minority.

While the US has had only one Catholic president, Canada has had innumerable Catholic federal PMs. Indeed, Harper is the first protestant PM since Pearson. (I except Kim Campbell.)

Ontario is an interesting example: its first PM (John S. Macdonald, Scottish) was Catholic and Dalton McGuinty was its second Catholic PM.

Newfoundland has a fascinating history of Catholic/Protestant relations. (In Newfoundland, the practice was to choose a cabinet minister of one religion and a deputy minister of the other.)

Recently, I have spent time in Germany and this made the idea more plain. Like in North America, few Germans are practicing Christians but the differences between Protestants and Catholics remain.

[kimmy]

A woman at the Fed? WTF?

I know, right? What's next, women doctors? A negro in the White House?

While Yellen is perfectly competent (IMHO a bit too academic, like Bernanke), I fear rather that the position may have become a PR exercise.

She's perfectly competent but it's still a PR exercise?

Because if it weren't a PR exercise they'd pass over a perfectly competent woman and find a while male to fill the role?

-k

[cybercoma]

I absolutely hate that when men characterize their female colleagues as "competent." Stephen Harper did this on Twitter when talking about the four new female cabinet ministers. He called them "capable." When has such a nonsensical descriptor been used for men taking on these roles. Imagine! Joe Biden, a capable man. Eric Holder, a competent man for the Attorney General's office. Clarence Thomas, an able man for the SCOTUS. It's outright insulting to women that they're described in this way and goes to show what kind of biases there still are in public consciousness about women in power.