Ten Takeaways from Janet Yellen’s Big Day

1) She did well. When testifying on Capitol Hill, especially when testifying for the first time, the primary task of any Fed chief is to avoid making mistakes that could upset the markets, or undermine confidence in his or her abilities. This, Janet Yellen, the pride of Fort Hamilton High School, certainly accomplished. For more than three and a half hours, she sat patiently before the members of the House Financial Services Committee and took questions on everything from quantitative easing to Japanese trade policies. By the time she’d finished, the headline of the day was still one taken from her written testimony, in which she promised “a great deal of continuity” with the policies of her predecessor, Ben Bernanke. That was a sure sign that Yellen hadn’t made any gaffes.

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