169: What It’s Like to Be the Chairwoman of the Federal Reserve Bank w/ Dr. Janet Yellen, The Brookings Institution [Main T4C episode]

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Dr. Janet Yellen is currently serving as a Distinguished Fellow in Residence at The Brookings Institution. From 2014 to 2018,  Dr. Yellen served as the Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the first woman to hold this position. During her time as the head of the Federal Reserve, unemployment dropped from 6.7% to 4.1%!  Dr. Yellen’s experience in government and working in the field of monetary policy extends well beyond her time at the Federal Reserve. Before her appointment as the head of the Fed, Dr. Yellen served as the Vice Chair of the Fed’s Board of Governors, a position she assumed in 2010. Additionally, she has served as the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She was also appointed by President Bill Clinton as the Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors.  Early in her career, Dr. Yellen was a business professor at the University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business, where she participated in research on unemployment and labor markets, monetary and fiscal policies, and international trade and investment policy.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE:

• What the Federal Reserve Bank is
• What the Chairman of the Federal Reserve does
• How to reach a consensus among a group of powerful people (hint: it’s like picking a neutral paint color)
• What it was like to be the first woman Fed chair
• Why taking humanities classes may provide a new perspective for economics majors  
• Why you’ll need to be a lifelong student
• What the current quality of job market means for recent graduates
• How economics is a gateway to seeking social justice
• If you want to learn how to break into the Federal Reserve and the field of Economics listen to T4C episode #119 w/ Dr. Yellen