Janet Yellen Seen as Fed Frontrunner

In a dramatic move, Larry Summers, the controversial former Treasury secretary and president of Harvard University, withdrew from consideration as the next head of the Federal Reserve. Now that Summers’s unfathomable frontrunner status is no longer, current Federal Reserve vice chair Janet Yellen is seen as gaining the most from the move. Yellen, regarded as more favorable toward expansive monetary policy, also seems to have Wall Street at her back. When news of the Summers withdrawal broke, U.S. stock futures soared, in large part because it was thought he would curtail monetary stimulus by the central bank. Summers withdrew when it became obvious he would face a contentious confirmation battle.