A short list of candidates to fill the post of president at the New York Federal Reserve Bank--the senior post in the 12-region Federal Reserve Banking System--could be submitted to the board of directors as early as next month. The list reportedly now contains a half dozen candidates, including new name Steve Thieke, a former Fed credit analyst and former prexy of J. P. Morgan Securities who is now chairman of RiskMetrics.
The post has been open since William McDonough left in July to take the helm at the new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. It is the most powerful among the regional Fed banks as it controls monetary policy by buying and selling Treasury securities.
The Board of Directors of the New York Fed, led by Peter G. Peterson of Blackstone Group, next meets on September 18.
Martin Feldstein, Harvard University economist and president of the National Bureau of Economic Research, is still regarded as the leading candidate, in part because of his historical ties to past Republican administrations and his strong public backing for President Bush's tax cuts.
Others names that have been bandied about publicly include William Poole, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and Glen Hubbard, who was chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisors until this February.