Fed Vice Chairman Rivlin to Resign 3 Years Into Job
WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Alice M. Rivlin said she is resigning from the Fed after three years in the job, effective July 16.</br></br>As is the custom at the Fed, Ms. Rivlin won't participate in the June 29-30 meeting of Fed policy makers. That removes one potential voice against raising interest rates. At least until recently, Ms. Rivlin has emphasized the enormous social benefits of a strong economy and has strongly advocated holding rates steady.</br></br>The resignation means the Clinton administration now has two vacancies to fill on the seven-member board. The vice chairman's title may help the recruitment effort. For one of the two slots, the White House is leaning toward nominating Carol J. Parry, an executive vice president of Chase Manhattan Bank in charge of mortgage and commercial loans to low- and moderate-income communities and of the bank's philanthropy. Ms. Parry had rejected earlier overtures.</br></br>Ms. Rivlin, 68 years old, said she will return to the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank where she spent most of the Reagan and Bush years, and hopes to spend more time with her three grandchildren. However, she will continue to head the board overseeing the District of Columbia's finances. "I hope to spend more time and to be more effectively involved in the city than I have been able to be" while at the Fed, she said in her letter of resignation.</br></br>Ms. Rivlin's four-year term as vice chairman was to expire in June 2000, though her term as a member of the Fed board extended to 2010. She had been overseeing Fed administrative operations and the Fed's oversight of bank payment systems.