Now that Trump finally figured out he needs lower interest rates to preserve the debt-funded "growth" of the US and prevent the $20 trillion in government debt from spontaneously combusting (as higher rates lead to higher interest outlays, resulting in even more debt and so on)...
... speculation about who may replace Janet Yellen has faded despite her term ending in 2018.
Or maybe it hasn't, because in an unscheduled meeting, NBC reporter Hans Nichols tweeted on Friday that "Spotted at WH: Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England. Denied being here for FBI job. But Yellen's?"
Spotted at WH: Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England. Denied being here for FBI job. But Yellen's? @TheDomino pic.twitter.com/XYGZbeo5fe
— HansNichols (@HansNichols) May 19, 2017
Nichols included a picture of Carney walking the big white building and he's citing a Bloomberg correspondent. Bloomberg says that Carney met with National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn in Washington on Friday.
The visit was confirmed by a BoE spokesman but given that there was no prior market notice that Carney would be making a visit, the reports are prompting investor conversation, while Bloomberg adds that Carney is in quiet period to speak for press ahead of the UK election on June 8.
Why would the former head of the Bank of Canada, the current head of the Bank of England, and former Goldman partner be at the White House? One guess which is making the rounds: he is preparing for the historic central banking hat trick of having run the central banks of Canada, the UK and soon, the US. As Nichols adds, "Carney just left WH and didn't DENY that he was interviewing for Yellen's job. DIRECTLY ASKED"
Carney just left WH and didn't DENY that he was interviewing for Yellen's job. DIRECTLY ASKED. (You can go with that, right) cc: @Moss_Eco https://t.co/zrCUPMZj3f
— HansNichols (@HansNichols) May 19, 2017
Perhaps the visit was perfectly innocuous. According to Reuters, Carney met with the Gary Cohn, "in his role as head of the Financial Stability Board, an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system, the Bank of England said."
Which is an efficient way of saying absolutely nothing at all, because it was not in what current capacity Carney met with former Goldman co-worker Gary Cohn, it's what his future capacity may be.
With Goldman already having taken over the White House, is the world's most powerful bank preparing to add the Federal Reserve to its trophy collection? Find out some time in January 2018 when Yellen's tenure ends.