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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nealm who wrote (151713)	6/8/2001 5:07:15 PM
From: goldworldnet	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

NEWSMAKER-Fed pick Bies is bright, big-picture thinker By Caren Bohan and Jonathan Nicholson Friday June 8, 4:05 pm Eastern Time WASHINGTON, June 8 (Reuters) - Susan Schmidt Bies brings a wealth of the banking expertise the Bush administration sought as it interviewed candidates for the powerful Federal Reserve Board. But her resume is bolstered by another key credential: she's a trained economist. The White House on Friday announced its selection of Bies, a 54-year-old executive from First Tennessee National Corp. in Memphis, for the U.S. central bank's board. She has a doctorate in economics and taught the subject for years at the college level. Those who know her speak highly of her intellect and her ability to look at the big picture. ``She is so smart, it's scary,'' said James Chessen, chief economist at the American Bankers Association lobby group. ``She's very much a theoretician, but it's always directed toward what's practical and possible.'' He added: ``She's not a wallflower. She lets people know what is on her mind.'' CLIMBING THE CORPORATE LADDER Bies (pronounced BUYS) was originally hired by First Tennessee in 1979 as a staff economist, rising up the corporate ladder to become treasurer, then chief financial officer and most recently, serving as the bank's auditor and executive vice president in charge of risk management. She has taught at Rhodes College in Memphis and Wayne State University in Detroit. She's not entirely new to the Fed system -- she worked as the chief regional and banking structure economist at the Fed Bank of St. Louis from 1970-1972. If confirmed by the Senate, she will lend diversity to the currently all-male Fed board. The administration, in its search for people to fill three near-term vacancies on the seven-member board, was keen to find someone with practical banking experience -- something the panel, which is a key banking regulator, has been without for several years. Although there is plenty of precedent for having non-economists at the board, Bies' knowledge in that area will enhance her ability to become an influential player in discussions over monetary policy. The Fed board forms the core of the central bank's interest rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. ``It's a plus to have her training in economics as well as her banking background,'' said David Jones, economist at Aubrey G. Lanston in New York. Within economics, Bies' specialty areas include financial products such as derivatives, said David Kemme, professor of economics at the University of Memphis. ``She is, of course, well trained. She is also a person who is always well prepared,'' said Kemme, who knows Bies through the local economics club. NOT WELL KNOWN TO WALL STREET Bies is not well known at all on Wall Street, but specialists in the arena of banking and finance said they would welcome her appointment. ``It's great that we have a banker. Your perspective is different if you are actually in the banking world. Susan will lend that expertise to the board,'' said Katie Winchester, president and chief executive of First Citizens National Bank in Dyersburg, Tenn. ``It's a wonderful nomination,'' said Edmund Jenkins, chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board in Norwalk, Conn., which sets standards for financial reporting. Bies is a member of a FASB task force on emerging issues. ``She is an astute thinker who expresses her ideas well, and she's a good listener,'' Jenkins said. Bies earned her bachelor's degree in 1967 from the State University College of New York at Buffalo, and her PhD in economics in 1972 from Northwestern University. She has been active in her community, serving as the chairperson for the Memphis Youth Initiative and serving at the area Chamber of Commerce and on a local planning forum. Bies is married with two grown sons. Her husband, John Bies, is a professor of geography at the University of Memphis. Golfing is among her hobbies, friends say. (Additional reporting by Barbara Hagenbaugh) biz.yahoo.com * * *