ML-Implode News - Powell, Once an Also-Ran, Set to Chair Trump's Bank-Friendly Fed

... he's said to be in line for the top job as Fed chairman, with the expectation that he'll make life easier for the financial industry. Three people familiar with the decision said Trump had told Powell he's the nominee, though that hasn't been confirmed by the White House, the Fed or the candidate himself. A public statement is due Thursday. Trump's pick was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.
In the running to be chief banking overseer, Powell was passed over by administration insiders who associated him with the rush to regulate after the 2008 crash. As a Fed governor since 2012, he did sign off on a lot of new rules -- but only after privately raising some red flags first. The former private-equity executive was at times a lone voice at Janet Yellen's Fed, warning that well-intentioned regulation could end up holding back the economy.

That's a temperate version of Trump's charge that red tape is choking the flow of credit to business. The president, a former real-estate developer, has also made it clear that he's fine with the cheap money that's characterized the Yellen era. Those preferences add up to a Fed chair who would stick with the program on monetary policy and loosen some restrictions on banks -- an equation that's led Trump to Powell.
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By picking Powell, a known quantity, the president may be hoping that the economy and stock market can maintain the winning streaks they've enjoyed under Yellen. Her term expires on Feb. 3.

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Powell, Once an Also-Ran, Set to Chair Trump's Bank-Friendly Fed