Women's History Month intends to honor, inspire, educate, unite and promote women in the face of forces intent on subjugating and silencing them. It is about those who overcame overt and imbedded assumptions and prejudice to be their best selves. RGB said it well:
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.”
DAY 18: JANET YELLEN
(Image from Wikipedia commons)
American economist. Former Treasury Secretary, chair of the Federal Reserve & chair of the White House Economic Advisers. PhD graduate from Yale. In between federal appointments, she has ben a professor at numerous prestigious schools.
Her ability to reach consensus while holding to Kenseyian policies makes her a champion for the people. She promoted the concept of Efficient Wage Theory, which argues that paying people more than the required minimum improves their productivity and value to their employer. Major corporations like Trader Joe’s and Costco have followed that model with resounding success.
Her nomination to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors signaled an interest in her approach to labor markets influencing the Reserve. It also provided leverage for her to address the gender pay gap with difficult success.
Janet has always been meticulous, balanced and thorough in her assessments. Her macroeconomics class notes were so meticulous that they became teh unofficial textbook. "Yellen's Notes" were circulated among generations of graduate students.
She is widely considered one of the most successful Federal Reserve System chairs ever, having driven the unemployment rate to its lowest point in 17 years while inflation was held in check at the 2% target. Her string of federal appointments from 1994 to 2025 is unmatched, confirming the confidence bestowed on her.
In 2021, she advocated for and won approval form the G7 countries for a global minimum corporate tax rate that prevented profit shifting for tax avoidance, and received support from over 130 countries to begin eliminating tax havens. Fully aware of the growing interest in cryptocurrencies, Janet advocated for a government version of a stablecoin, a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to a tangible reference asset. This action would create the first foundational cryptocurrency that was not a commodity, and as such, eliminate speculative the risk of such.
In 2022, she addressed the Senate Banking Committee on the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade. When asked by noting the very damaging effects it would have to the economy, along with setting back women's rights decades and increasing women's poverty. When a Republican member questioned those assertions and said they were harsh, Janet replied with, "This is not harsh. This is truth."
11 honorary degrees. 9 memberships and fellowships. 6 chancellor, rector and governor positions. 11 major awards. And she has a rap song! Check out “Who’s Yellen Now”, performed by Dessa.
https://www.marketplace.org/2021/01/21/yellen-hamilton-musical-biden-dessa/
Learn more about her at
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/janet-yellen
https://home.treasury.gov/about/general-information/officials/janet-yellen
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