Deutsche Bank have already prepared their short list for replacing Janet Yellen as Chair at the Federal Reserve. And she still has a year to go!

Kevin Warsh

  • Was on the Fed's Board of Governors 2006 -2011
  • Said to have "strong Republican credentials"

Jerome Powell

  • Currently a Federal Reserve governor
  • Said to be a centrist but with slightly hawkish leanings

John Taylor

  • An economics professor at Stanford
  • Leans towards a more rules-based Fed apparently

John Cochrane

  • A Professor at the University of Chicago

DB's list is via the FT, gated.

Meanwhile, from Bloomberg:

  • Yellen appears to be moving toward a more centrist approach
  • In her semi-annual testimony to Congress this week she seemed intent on raising interest rates three times this year, as suggested in the Fed's forecasts from December
  • Yellen has consistently focused on downside risks to the Fed's forecasts, citing "headwinds" that always seemed to restrict economic growth. This time she left those caveats behind, adding that waiting too long to raise rates has its own risks.

The article says Yellen may be a lame duck ... but it adds:

  • The big risk for bond traders now is underestimating the resolve of lame duck Fed chairs to cement their legacies.

--

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say anyone who think Yellen is a lame duck is nuts. And deserves the big kick they'll be getting in them.