Who will Obama appoint as new Federal Reserve chair?

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee July 18, 2013 in Washington, DC. Bernanke testified on the semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress.

Current Chair Ben Bernanke will step down soon, and his potential successors are current vice chair Janet Yellen and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

Although our economy is recovering and home values are going back up, things remain fragile for a lot of Americans.

Yesterday on the program we heard from former California Treasurer Phil Angelides, who in 2009 was named Chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Part of his job was to look into the what and the why of our fiscal meltdown.

Does he think our financial system was now safe. His answer: no.

According to Angelides, the one essential thing to keep us from falling off the cliff again is the appointment of the Federal Reserve Chairman. Current Chair Ben Bernanke will step down soon, and his potential successors are current vice chair Janet Yellen and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

Michael Hirsch, chief correspondent for the National Journal, joins the show to explain the importance of this appointment.