Must-Read: Michael Derby: Dallas Fed Struggles to Fill Fisher’s Big Shoes
Must-Read: Richard Fisher became President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in April 2005. He spent ten years as a regional bank President. I cannot think of a single case in which he was pulling the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee toward a more correct assessment of the current economic situation and of the major risks to it. And I cannot think of an episode in which, after events had proved his views of major risks erroneous, he ever marked his beliefs to market in any substantive ways.
Surely that is worth mentioning at least once in an article about the Dallas Fed? Can anybody make a case to me that Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Derby’s failure to even whisper this in his article is any way professional?
: Dallas Fed Struggles to Fill Fisher’s Big Shoes: “The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas is taking its time picking a new president….
…Former president Richard Fisher stepped down March 19…. His exit was long anticipated…. ‘It’s beyond bizarre’ a new president hasn’t been named yet, said Danielle DiMartino Booth, who served as a close adviser to Mr. Fisher when they were both at the bank…. ‘Richard Fisher rose to the status of being a deity in Texas,’ Ms. Booth said. ‘People associate the success of the state’ with him, and it is ‘very difficult’ to find a new leader who can maintain that sort of profile, she said….
He was known for a brash public style as president. He made his case against the Fed’s easy money policies in speeches invoking high and pop culture, warning repeatedly about frothy financial markets and arguing in vain for higher interest rates. His predecessor Robert McTeer, operating under the nickname of the ‘Lonesome Dove,’ was known for opposing rate rises—sometimes via haiku. The Dallas Fed has ‘a tradition of having an outspoken leader,’ said Ethan Harris, chief economist at Bank of American Merrill Lynch. Those with knowledge of the process say the Dallas Fed is seeking a replacement who will carry on that tradition….
Some critics from labor unions and local community groups say they are disappointed by the lack of openness…. Not all think the bright light of transparency is a cure all. Lou Crandall, chief economist for Wrightson ICAP, said wanting to know more about the process is a ‘fair point.’ But he warned ‘you don’t want a lot of public jockeying over this.’