Janet Yellen(1946 — ?)
Janet Yellen
États-Unis
5 min read
Janet Yellen is an American economist specializing in the labor market and monetary policy. She chaired the Federal Reserve of the United States from 2014 to 2018, becoming the first woman to hold this position, and later served as Secretary of the Treasury from 2021 to 2025 — again the first woman appointed to this office.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- A graduate of Yale (PhD in economics in 1971), she became a recognized expert in labor economics.
- In 2014, she became the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve of the United States (until 2018).
- In 2021, she was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Joe Biden, the first woman in this role (until 2025).
- She steered American monetary policy after the 2008 crisis and then the fiscal response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Works & Achievements
The first woman to lead the Fed, she oversaw the recovery following the 2008 crisis and cautiously began raising interest rates.
The first woman to hold this office, she managed the post-Covid recovery and championed a global minimum tax on multinational corporations.
Under Bill Clinton, she advised the White House on economic policy during a period of growth.
Her academic work, sometimes carried out with George Akerlof, explains why unemployment can persist, influencing modern economic theory.
She played a key role in the international negotiation of a 15% minimum tax rate for large corporations.
Anecdotes
In 2014, Janet Yellen became the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve in the institution's more than one hundred years of existence. She inherited an economy slowly recovering from the 2008 crisis and had to decide when to raise interest rates without derailing the recovery.
Janet Yellen and her husband, George Akerlof, are both renowned economists. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001, and the couple have published research together: a true household where the labor market gets discussed over breakfast.
In 2021, she became the first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Since she had also chaired the Fed and the White House Council of Economic Advisers, she is the only person in American history to have held all three of these major economic offices.
Nicknamed by some the “dove” of monetary policy, Yellen is known for prioritizing employment: she often reminded people that behind the unemployment statistics lie real families, and that a central bank must think about workers as much as about inflation.
During her time at the Treasury, she repeatedly issued warnings about the American “debt ceiling,” cautioning Congress that if the limit were not raised, the government risked being unable to pay its bills — an unprecedented and dangerous situation for the global economy.
Primary Sources
The Federal Reserve's mandate, set by Congress, is to serve all Americans, and too many of them still cannot find work.
To rebuild the economy, we must act fast: without more relief, we risk a longer and more painful recession.
If Congress does not act to raise or suspend the debt limit, the Treasury will be unable to meet the financial obligations of the government.
Key Places
Borough of New York City where Janet Yellen was born in 1946, into a middle-class family. Her father worked there as a neighborhood doctor.
University where she earned her doctorate in economics in 1971. There she shaped her thinking on unemployment and the labor market.
Headquarters of the American central bank where she chaired the monetary policy committee from 2014 to 2018. This is where interest rates are decided.
The American finance ministry, which she led as Secretary of the Treasury from 2021 to 2025. The building sits right next to the White House.
University where she taught economics for many years as a professor at the Haas School of Business. A large part of her academic career unfolded here.
