Biden Selects Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen To Be First Female Treasury Secretary

President-elect Joe Biden selected former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to serve as the first female Treasury Secretary on Wednesday.

As the chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, Yellen headed a slow increase of interest rates while closely monitoring the labor market — helping to create a foundation that drove unemployment to its lowest rate in 50 years.

As a Keynesian economist, she has advocated for increased fiscal spending to boost the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Her appointment appears to have inspired faith in the stock market, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.54%, closing above 30,000 for the first time.

The chief investment officer of global wealth management at UBS, Mark Haefele, wrote in Barron’s: “The former Fed chair is a welcome choice for investors, increasing the chances of strong coordination of fiscal and monetary policy.”

Yellen, originally from Brooklyn, attended Brown University and received her doctorate from Yale. Before becoming the first female chair of the Fed, she served as the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, a Fed governor and the Fed vice chair.

Biden’s pick has inspired confidence on both sides of the political spectrum.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) wrote, “Janet Yellen would be an outstanding choice for Treasury Secretary. She is smart, tough, and principled.”

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr., who served in the Bush administration, praised Yellen’s credentials as well.

“[Yellen] will have a tough job ahead of her, but she has the experience, talent, credibility and relationships with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to make a real difference,” Paulson said.