Who should be the next Fed Chairman?

• Position: A Symposium Of Views - Federal Reserve Board

Over the next several years, commentators will speculate on the identity of the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors once Alan Greenspan's tenure ends in 2006. Instead of speculation centered on who is likely to be next, perhaps the initial question should relate to who should assume the post many describe today as "central banker to the world"?

TIE ASKED DOZENS OF EXPERTS

Among those mentioned as possible replacements: *

Bob Rubin

Martin Feldstein

Larry Summers

Ben Bernanke

William McDonough

Joseph Stiglitz

Lawrence B. Lindsey

Robert McTeer

JAnet Yellen

Glen Hubbard

David Malpass

Robert Barro

Ian Macfarlane

Bill Gross

* Note: Selections made prior to November 2 U.S. presidential election.

BARNEY FRANK

Member, U.S. House of Representatives, and senior Democrat on the Financial Services Committee

If John Kerry is elected President, I will urge strongly the appointment of Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz to chair the Fed. That position has become the single most influential office affecting national economic policy, and Stiglitz's commitment to and understanding of the importance of combining economic growth with a concern for economic fairness are sorely needed. Given the increasing role that globalization plays, his international experience is also a great asset.

STEVE FORBES

President and CEO, Forbes, Inc.

David Malpass, chief global economist at Bear Stearns. He understands monetary policy--that the principal goal should be a stable dollar. No inflation, no deflation, just ration. He understands how commodity prices as a whole, and gold in particular, are good barometers of monetary disturbances. He got it right on the Fed's deflation of the late 1990s and early 21st century, and he also has it right today concerning the Fed's mild inflationary course.

Another individual to consider is Robert McTeer, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. He, too, has a grasp of monetary policy that surpasses that of his peers.

GEORGE SOROS

Chairman, Soros Fund Management

Bob Rubin is by far the most qualified.

SAMUEL BRITTAN

Columnist, Financial Times

My first preference for the next Chairman of the Fed is Alan Greenspan! I am not a born hero worshipper and do not regard him as infallible. He has made his share of mistakes, in particular in relation to the high-tech boom of the late 1990s. But I do not see anyone on the horizon who excels him or is even his equal.

Of course he will be eighty in 2006. But if the trend toward increased longevity and better health means anything at all, there is a sporting chance that he will still be up to the job. If he is able and willing I would reappoint him after an independent health check. In many countries elderly car drivers are subject to a regular routine health check. Why should not the same apply to central bankers?

If he is unavailable, my choice would be between Ben Bernanke who seems from over here the most analytical and articulate member of the FOMC, and Kenneth Rogoff, until recently chief economist of the International Monetary Fund. Rogoff wins by a short head, mainly because he is an outsider and has established a reputation for plain speaking, for instance about the U.S. payments deficit.

As a long shot why not consider a real outsider such as Ian Macfarlane, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia?

ROBERT NOVAK

Syndicated Columnist

There is only one logical choice to replace Dr. Greenspan: Manuel H. Johnson, who served as vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1986 to 1990. Prior to joining the central bank, he was a Treasury official for the first six years of the Reagan Administration.

Johnson's background is unique: professor of economics, Reaganite supply-sider and tax reformer, prudent central banker, successful private-sector consultant. It is not just that Manley Johnson knows everybody in the international world of finance. He is an innovative but...