After Kevin Warsh

As I wrote last week, the Obama administration seems to have erred in being slow off the mark in terms of filling Federal Reserve Board of Governors vacancies out of an honest mistake—it just hadn't been the case for thirty or so years that Fed Board nominations were a big deal. But today we can see that it is a big deal, and as Paul Krugman notes the departing Kevin Warsh was one of the bad guys on the Board.

But the administration's mistake in this regard is just part of a larger progressive community failure. For example, with Warsh out where the talk about people who'd be good replacements? Ideally, I'd be looking for someone with:

— Real specialization in monetary economics capable of swaying the non-specialists on the FOMC.

— A commitment to monetary stimulus, none of this "structural" hand-waving.

— A skeptical view of the merits of a large and profitable financial services sector.

— A generally progressive & egalitarian outlook.

I don't really know what the list is. I hope some of our economist-bloggers out there will have some suggestions.