October 3: Plain English or wonk-speak is only 1st decision for next Fed chairman (The Kansas City Star)

October 3, 2013

 — Whoever chairs the Federal Reserve next year will have to decide a lot more than how to handle the economy. She or he will have to decide whether to talk in English or Fed-speak.

Ben Bernanke is scheduled to step down as the Fed chief when his term ends Jan. 31. If he’s replaced – there’s some speculation that he might be tapped for another term – his successor will have to decide whether to adopt the style of former Chairman Alan Greenspan, a top-down leader whose deliberate avoidance of clarity gave rise to the term Fed-speak, or the professorial Bernanke, who promoted a more deliberative body, sought consensus, spoke more clearly and allowed the country to hear dissenting voices from within the central bank.