“There have been some crises along the way...but the Fed responded appropriately,” he says. “I think he gets very high marks.”

FELD AT THE FED?

Feldstein is consistently listed as one of three top contenders to become the country’s next chairman of the Federal Reserve, along with Fed Governor Ben S. Bernanke ’75 and Hubbard. (See related stories on Monday and Wednesday).

But Feldstein declines to offer any comment on the prospect of an appointment to the Fed and attributes the chatter to media hype.

“Everybody knows that Mr. Greenspan is going to retire, so there’s nothing happening other than press speculation,” he says.

But some experts say Feldstein’s chances of getting the Fed have diminished in recent months. Feldstein currently sits on the board of directors of the American International Group, Inc., an insurance company that has come under scrutiny for a financial scandal. (See story, right.)

But regardless of the scandal, he is still in the running for the Fed, says Thomas Schlesinger, executive director of the Financial Markets Center, a nonprofit research organization that monitors the Federal Reserve.

“I think he is taken seriously for his economic expertise in the Bush administration, and his views by-and-large seem to be in synch with those of the Bush White House,” says Schlesinger.

Schlesinger points to a speech Feldstein delivered at a recent Kansas City conference, in which he says Feldstein sided with Alan Greenspan in opposing inflation targeting—a concept pushed by Fed chair contender Bernanke.

“It is one of the most interesting distinctions we can draw between two of the guys who have been most mentioned frequently as potential Greenspan successors,” says Schlesinger.

David R. Gergen, director of the Kennedy School of Government’s Center for Public Leadership, says the nomination of Greenspan’s replacement will be a “critical appointment.”

“Many would argue that the appointment of the next Federal Reserve chair is as important to the future of the country as the appointment of the next Supreme Court justice,” said Gergen, a former adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton.

Gergen says he expects that President Bush will assemble a team of advisers to assist him in making the appointment, including Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and two officials from the Reagan White House: former CEA chairman Michael Boskin and former Secretary of State George Shultz.

Despite the speculation, Feldstein remains mum on the possibility and says he is happy with being “Professor” Feldstein for the time being.

“I like teaching. I don’t see any reason to stop anytime in the foreseeable future,” he says.

—Staff writer Javier C. Hernandez can be reached at jhernand@fas.harvard.edu.