Just when you thought Hope ‘n Change couldn’t dig himself any deeper, he asks for another shovel. He’s just appointed a union hump as Chairman of the New York Fed. From Neil Irwin’s Washington Post story:
Denis M. Hughes, a New York labor leader, was named Monday to chair the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s board of directors.
Instead of a résumé filled with corporate or financial experience, as has been typical of his predecessors, Hughes is president of the New York State AFL-CIO. He succeeds Stephen Friedman, who resigned from the job in May after drawing criticism for his simultaneous service as a director of Goldman Sachs and for buying stock in the company even after it became regulated by the New York Fed.
The board of directors of the regional Federal Reserve banks serves mainly an advisory role, sharing with bank presidents its views of economic conditions and business trends. The directors have no role in setting monetary policy or determining how banks are regulated, though they select the president of the bank, who does have those powers, subject to approval by the Fed board of governors in Washington.
The WashPo wants to reassure us, however: the directors don’t really do anything – not true for the Chairman – and Hughes has been on the board since 2004 and its acting Chairman since 2007. So Bush was an idiot, too? Well, yes, he did have his moments.
So, consider yourself reassured.
UPDATE: Scott at Powerline has picked up the Hughes story as well. Like Scott, I found Irwin’s Washington Post story remarkably unenlightening.
