I received several comments regarding the post on Jay Powell, asking whether I was implicitly stating a preference for Powell over Janet Yellen. Nope.

I clearly should have been less obtuse, but I meant only to be commenting on Powell, who had become a strong favorite according to the betting pundits. The Powell piece started with,

… let me begin with a negative. I believe in training and expertise, and Powell-like Warsh, Cohn, and a number of others who have ostensibly been on the short list-has no strong training or background in macroeconomics or monetary policy. For this reason, I think none of these folks is the ideal candidate.

Let me make the point clearer: Chair Yellen, like Chair Bernanke before her, exemplifies the ideal.

According to Reuters headlines, my preference is pretty common among those in my profession: “Powell likely next Fed chief, though Yellen best suited: economists.” But neither I nor my colleagues will make the pick.

In a series of posts, I’ve been praising the steady, predictable, low-drama Fed policy over the last several years. More of the same seems like a lovely idea.