President Barack Obama’s decision to nominate Stanley Fischer as the No. 2 at the Federal Reserve was prompted by none other than Janet Yellen.
As senior White House officials were putting together a list of potential vice chairman candidates last year, they concluded there was no way Fischer, a former Bank of Israel governor who had come close to being on the short list for the Fed chairmanship, would want the deputy’s job, according to a person familiar with the decision process. They decided they wouldn’t bother asking.
