There have been a few who have lusted after the job, but the vice chairmen are chosen for different purposes. The Fed is broken down so that the chairman runs policy and handles external relations, while the vice chairman runs the banking and internal part of the organization, and those aren't the skills you look for in a chairman.

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Assuming you can get some political stability, the rule of law and the protection of property rights ... the oil and the work force are things that make Iraq different from, say, some sub-Saharan country where the World Bank has been unsuccessful.

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If you are Alan Greenspan, it's hard to make a rule that would do any better. On the other hand, we have had 12 chairmen at the Federal Reserve since 1913, and some of them have made massive blunders.

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Leaving it to them would certainly be a big mistake until they're restructured and much more effective than they currently are.

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