Why Trump might keep Yellen

Many commenters have taken it as a given that Trump will replace Janet Yellen next year.  I certainly think that’s possible, but I’ve also argued that he might reappoint Yellen.  Now that seems a bit more likely:

Mr Trump has been highly critical of Ms Yellen in the past, saying that the Fed’s low interest rate policy had hurt savers.

He has also indicated that he would not nominate her for a second four-year term when her current one expires in February 2018.

But in Wednesday’s interview he said he now liked “a low-interest rate policy” and “respects” the Fed chair.

He also said she would not be “toast” when her current term ended, although he added: “It’s very early.”

The reason is simple.  When Trump asks his advisors for some possible names to replace Yellen, he’ll be given a list of conservatives.  Then Trump will ask whether interest rates will be lower under Yellen or under the conservatives.  The advisers will respond “Yellen”.  Trump will then say “Then why don’t we just stick with Yellen?

PS.  A few months ago I got a lot of grief from Trumpistas for suggesting:

1.   Flynn and Bannon are extremists and should not be on the NSC.

2.  Trump is just as militaristic as Hillary.

3.  Although China’s occupancy of some tiny uninhabited atolls is unfortunate and illegal, it’s trivial compared to what Russia is doing in the Ukraine and Syria.  Contrary to what Bannon claims, Russia’s the real threat.

4.  NATO is the most successful alliance ever, and is certainly not obsolete.

Now we read:

Trump spoke glowingly on Wednesday of a personal connection with Xi that he said had developed during the two days that the Chinese leader visited over the weekend.

“We had a very good bonding. I think we had a very good chemistry together,” Trump said of his time with Xi during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Trump, who added that he was “very impressed with President Xi,” repeatedly stated that he thought the Chinese leader had good intentions toward the United States. “President Xi wants to do the right thing,” Trump said. “I think he wants to help us with North Korea. … I think he means well, and I think he wants to help.”

There were other signs of goodwill between the Trump administration and China on Wednesday. Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he would reverse his previous pledge to label China a currency manipulator, which had been a cornerstone of his argument that China was cheating the U.S. and depriving American workers of jobs.

As for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a man that Trump has often spoken of in equally glowing terms, Wednesday’s assessment was not as kind.

“I don’t know Putin,” Trump said, before pivoting back to praise Xi, as well as NATO itself, in another sign of shifting relations between the White House and Russia.

Standing next to NATO’s top official, Trump said the European alliance that exists to counter Russian aggression was “no longer obsolete,” reversing himself on a term he’d used as recently as January to describe the group.

In Moscow, meanwhile, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Putin for nearly two hours before declaring that “the current state of U.S.-Russia relations is at a low point.”