Bush Is Preparing for Greenspan Successor

New York Times:

Now that he's tackled the Supreme Court openings, President Bush is preparing for another high-profile nomination: a successor to Alan Greenspan, whose 18-year run at the Federal Reserve comes to an end in just over three months. Often referred to as the second-most powerful person in the United States, Greenspan's last day is expected to be Jan. 31. Speaking at a wide-ranging news conference on Tuesday, Bush touched briefly on the White House's efforts to select a new Fed chairman. He called the process to find Greenspan's replacement ''ongoing.'' ''There is a group of people inside the White House ... who will bring forth nominees,'' Bush said. What is the president looking for in a new Fed chairman? ''The nominees will be people that, one, obviously can do the job and, secondly, will be independent,'' Bush said. ''It's important that whomever I pick is viewed as an independent person from politics. It's this independence of the Fed that gives people, not only here in America but the world, confidence.''

This is at least as important as a supreme court nomination. There are some who think Alan Greenspan has done a bad job. I am definately not one of them. From what I can see he has pretty brilliantly managed the economy, as far as it can be managed anyway. (via Honest Partisan)