President Trump has just tapped Jerome Powell to replace Janet Yellen as Federal Reserve chair. 

In this commentary on CNBC, Faculty Fellow Jeffrey Bergstrand (finance and economics) discusses why Powell is not as safe a choice for Fed Chair as the markets think, including these points:

  • Powell doesn't have Yellen's qualifications, making him a safe choice politically, but a risky choice for the economy.
  • Here's what happened the last time a non-economist ran the Fed.