The NY Times Is Wrong On Janet Yellen and Donald Trump

Today’s New York Times laments the fact that President Donald Trump didn’t reappoint current Federal Reserve Board Chairman (her title preference) Janet Yellen to another term. It has been traditional for the new incoming president to retain the Fed chair…a tradition that apparently goes back 40 years. And it really is too bad that the president chose to ignore this tradition because Ms. Yellen has done an outstanding job in a very trying economic period.

But NYT goes in this direction:

So, why, many women wondered, replace her with a man?

“Janet should’ve been renominated, as every past Fed chair has been renominated for nearly the last 40 years,” Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said in an interview. “But it’s not the first time and certainly not the last a highly qualified woman is passed over for a job she clearly deserves.”

Mr. (Jerome H.) Powell, the incoming chairman, studied closely under Ms. Yellen and is largely expected to continue the economic path she has laid. “They appointed the apprentice instead of the master,” Heidi Hartmann, the president and chief executive of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, said.

The change, Ms. Hartmann added, speaks to the broader problem of a lack of women represented in finance and economic policymaking. “I think men have a fair amount of loyalty to other men, and the other people Trump consulted would’ve been more open to a man,” she said.

The White House shunned any accusations of sexism playing into the decision. “The mere suggestion is an affront to Chair Yellen,” the press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.

Here’s where I think the NYT is wrong. President Trump didn’t ignore the accomplishments of Ms. Yellen. But he didn’t reappoint her…but I don’t believe for one minute that in this case it was sexism. I don’t think the president made his decision on her gender. Her great sin was being an Obama appointee. For that sin she had to go…no matter her skill set…no matter her accomplishments. So for me the White House was correct on that single point.

But the White House action was an even bigger affront to Ms. Yellen. They failed to reappoint her because of her relationship to President Obama…not on her ability. How is that attitude any different that the sexism they were accused of?

Editor’s Note added 12/11/17: One of our regular readers stated that I rambled a bit and my point wasn’t clear. Here is my stance in a nutshell. Many supporters of Chairman Yellen believe that President Trump didn’t reappoint her to the Fed chair because of her gender. I believe it is because she was appointed by President Obama as President Trump continues to do everything in his power to undo everything that his predecessor put in place.

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