WASHINGTON — 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.
October 3: Plain English or wonk-speak is only 1st decision for next Fed chairman (The Kansas City Star)
October 3, 2013
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.