Janet Yellen's Main Rival For The Top Job At The Fed Is Surging On A Betting Site
In July, President Obama suggested he was considering three candidates to replace Ben Bernanke when the current chairman of the Federal Reserve's term expires in January: former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, current Fed vice chairwoman Janet Yellen, and former Fed vice chairman Donald Kohn.
Summers was considered the frontrunner, but he withdrew his name from the race on Sunday after Democratic senators aligned against him.
Yellen is now tipped to be the frontrunner, and is widely considered to be the best candidate, given her experience and current position.
Kohn is the dark horse. However, his odds are surging on betting website Paddy Power today.
Earlier this morning, Janet Yellen had 1/7 odds, but her chances have since decreased to 10/11.
Meanwhile, Kohn is now at even odds to be next Fed chair, up from 11/2 odds earlier this morning, according to Lorcan Roche Kelly, who has been keeping score on Twitter.
This may not mean much, and there's no real sense of how much betting activity is even behind these numbers, but it's something that is causing a bit of a buzz nonetheless.
BNP Paribas economist Julia Coronado, on the other hand, says all of the Kohn "chatter is coming from market types that don't know anything."
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