Felix Rohatyn, the Democratic moneybags who managed the New York City financial bailout in the 1970s, is quietly angling to become chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. He’d replace Alan Greenspan, whose Fed term expires in March. Rohatyn isn’t openly campaigning for the job. Perish the thought. He’s merely expressing his availability in case Greenspan is too tired or intellectually spent to continue as chairman. Of course, that’s exactly the way one campaigns for the Fed.
President Clinton would love to replace Greenspan, a Republican, with a Democrat if he thought financial markets and congressional Republicans would go along. They probably wouldn’t.
Besides, Rohatyn’s chances were diminished by the interest rate cut of a quarter percent engineered by Greenspan on December 19. This thrilled the Clinton White House, especially because Greenspan had suggested he might wait until the president forged a balanced budget deal with congressional Republicans before slashing. Now Greenspan’s prospects for renomination are better, Rohatyn’s worse. Rohatyn has another problem: He’s never been a favorite of the Clintons. He was late in endorsing Clinton in 1992. And the Clintonires remember the time he spent advising Ross Perot that year.
