The WSJ did an interesting indicator by indicator comparison of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen against her predecessor former chair Ben Bernanke.
Janet Yellen took office as chairwoman of the Federal Reserve on Feb. 3, 2014. As she approaches the 18-month mark, how has her time at the helm compared with the early experience of her predecessor, Ben Bernanke? She inherited a weaker economy in the wake of the 2007-09 recession, but oversaw rapid improvement by several measures of economic health.
Here are a few key numbers to help take stock of her first year and a half on the job. Data for Ms. Yellen’s tenure reflect the period from February 2014 to now, based on data available through Friday. Mr. Bernanke’s first 18 months ran from February 2006 through July 2007.
JOBS
YELLEN
+247,000
BERNANKE
+144,000
DOLLAR
YELLEN
+19%
BERNANKE
-8%
An interesting read although the comparisons should be taken with a boulder of salt given the two different economic conditions they inherited when they took the top job at the U.S. central bank.
