Unfortunately most of the focus now seems to be on leadership style (I prefer Yellen's style), from a Bloomberg article: Yellen or Summers: Who'd Be Better at Running the Fed?
Where Yellen and Summers may differ most is in their leadership style. That may be the critical issue for a Fed that's trying to be more open about its thinking despite disagreements among its top policy makers. The Fed's minutes show Yellen as influential but not particularly loud and outspoken. It's safe to say Summers would be loud and outspoken -- and authoritarian rather than merely influential.And from the LA Times: Obama may choose between two economists to replace Bernanke at Fed
President Obama's choice for replacing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke probably comes down to a quiet consensus builder, who would be a historic pick, or one considered brilliant but difficult to work with.
As it happens, I have a some experience in addressing the question of leadership style. Some years ago I was very much involved in the school system in my town and one year I ran and won a seat on the Board of Trustees. During that election season I participated as a member of a search committee that was seeking a new Superintendent for the District, since ours had just resigned in a scandal. We had also, just a year before, seen a proposal for a bond issue to make improvements to the district's facilities go down in flames. We whittled the field down to 3 candidates, and then brought them in to make public presentations prior to the school board making a final decision. For each of the candidates I just had one question: how would you describe your leadership style. Amazingly, two of the three described a style that was fairly authoritarian. Only one of the three said they looked to bring in all affected constituencies and build consensus. Need I say that the third candidate was also the only woman candidate? It was very close, but ultimately the third candidate (who I strongly supported) was appointed by the board.
And she has been a grand success. Three years later - in 2009 at the height of the financial crisis, we were actually able to cobble together a bond issue to make the improvements that was passed by the voters - an amazing feat (I think we were one of the very few who even asked our voters to do this, let alone get their approval). She continues to serve as Superintendent, and has succeeded on a number of fronts where prior supers failed. And the primary reason for her success (and the district's success), has been her leadership style.
Of course, the financial world is a man's world, and it seems that Yellen may have an uphill climb.
But as far as I am concerned, between Yellen and Summers, its absolutely no contest.
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