I have
referred to Ben Bernanke as the “FDR of central banking.” What I mean is that Bernanke not only instituted horrible economic policies, but he used the financial crisis to fundamentally transform the way Americans (and Earthlings more generally) view the role of the Federal Reserve. A recent
Huffington Post article on Janet Yellen illustrates my case beautifully.
The bio describes the writer, Mike Sandler, as a “climate change professional” (among other things). That should warm us up for his recommendations for incoming Fed chair Janet Yellen:
On January 6, Janet Yellen will likely be confirmed as the next Chair of the Federal Reserve System. Her to-do list will be full of things like the interest rate, the bank bailouts, the unemployment rate, and in general, running the economy. Climate change would be an unexpected addition to that list, but the Fed Chair is in an important and rarely recognized position to to take action on the climate crisis.
Sandler lists several ways that Yellen can tackle the “climate crisis,” but I don’t want to overwhelm you. Let’s look at just one of his suggestions:
She can make a carbon cap a part of the Fed’s operations by tracking and requiring carbon reductions in the footprint of loans originated by Fed member banks. This could take the form of a declining number of annual allowances to banks that provide loans to the energy and oil industry. By connecting economic activity to greenhouse gas emissions, the Federal Reserve could create levers to allow for additional economic growth in low-carbon activities, while reining in high-carbon industries.
[...]
Finally, just to make sure that we throw out marginal cost/benefit analysis and view the issue in emotional terms, here is how Sandler ends his HuffPo piece: “
Janet Yellen will have unique powers over economic policy, and she can use her new powers to save the planet. To do so, she will need to add one more item to her 2014 to-do list.”
[...]
