Song of the Thin Man

The news that President Trump picked a thoroughly conventional candidate to head the Federal Reserve next year was reassuring. Our initial reaction was that Fed-chair-to-be Powell not only looks the part of a central banker, but also showed financial acumen in "My Man Godfrey," keen insight in "The Thin Man" and its sequels, and a real knack for dealing with difficult colleagues in "Mister Roberts." Those are important qualities for someone guiding members of a committee who are sometimes difficult and always disputatious to a conclusion and then communicating the choice to a wider world. To our initial disappointment, though, someone explained that the actor William Powell died in 1980 and that the nominee is actually Jerome, "Jay", Powell, a current Fed governor and former Bush (senior) Treasury official. The consolation is that the younger Powell showed the same attributes of the elder during his career, but it is disappointing that Myrna Loy will not be at the Fed’s Fourth-of-July party. (Someone else subsequently relayed the bad news about Ms. Loy’s death in 1993. It is a colder world all-around.)