Mishkin Nominated to Federal Reserve Board

If confirmed by the Senate, Frederic S. Mishkin will become the second Columbia professor to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

The Alfred Lerner Professor of Banking and Financial Institutions at the Business School was tapped by President George W. Bush Friday to serve out the remainder of the term vacated by former governor and vice chairman of the board Roger Ferguson, who resigned in late April. Arthur F. Burns was the first Columbia professor to serve on the board as Chairman from 1970 to 1978.

Mishkin, a longtime colleague of current Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, is expected to support a policy of inflation targeting-a strategy of setting a numeric price goal for the public that the board would pledge to meet through its actions.

Mishkin and Bernanke have coauthored a book as well as a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece advocating the implementation of inflation targets. If confirmed, Mishkin may prove a strong ally to Bernanke.

"It's a good appointment...He brings more knowledge of monetary policy and monetary
economics to the table than anyone at the Fed. Bernanke is getting a big ally on inflation targeting," Richard Yamarone, chief economist of Argus
Research Corp., told The Washington Post.

Prior to joining the Columbia faculty in 1983, Mishkin taught at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Princeton University. Mishkin received his bachelor's degree and doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mishkin currently serves on the economic advisory panel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he was executive vice president and director of research from 1994 to 1997. He has also been an associate economist of the Federal Open Market Committee as well as a consultant to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and several foreign central banks.

If the nomination is approved by the Senate, Mishkin's term will expire in Jan. 31, 2014.

Check columbiaspectator.com for more updates.