By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa
Janet Yellen, the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve in its
100-year history, said Thursday the economics profession, which is
dominated by white males, could benefit from a more diverse range
of views.
"Did the economics profession recruit and promote the
individuals best able to bring the energy, the fresh insights, and
the renewal that every field and every body of knowledge needs to
remain healthy?" asked Ms. Yellen, who was delivering introductory
remarks at a conference on diversity in the economics
profession.
"These are not idle questions," she said. "There has been a fair
amount of public debate in recent years about the health of the
economics profession, prompted in part by the failure of many
economists to comprehend the dire threats and foresee the damage of
the financial crisis."
Ms. Yellen did not comment on the outlook for the economy or
monetary policy, just a day after the Fed decided to conclude its
bond-purchase program and leave interest rates at zero for the
foreseeable future as expected.
She said the Fed is committed to enhancing diversity in the
economics profession both as employer and institution, adding that
the benefits of diversity are frequently evident in various lines
of economic and financial research.
"Often, in the things economists study and the methods we use,
diversity is a good thing," she said. "I believe decisions by the
Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Open Market Committee are
better because of the range of views and perspectives brought to
the table by my fellow policymakers, and I have encouraged this
approach to decision making at all levels and throughout the Fed
system."
Ms. Yellen has already seen a number of dissents in her short
tenure, which began in February. This week, Minneapolis Fed
President Kocherlakota voted against the Fed's decision, calling
for additional bond buying and a firmer commitment to meeting the
Fed's 2% inflation goal, which has proven elusive in recent
years.
Write to Pedro Nicolaci da Costa at pedro.dacosta@wsj.com