Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 23, 1994                   TAG: 9404250151
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-4 BUSINESS   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JAMES H. RUBIN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

ARTICULATE INFLATION 'DOVE,' PRAGMATIST MONEY BOARD'S NEWEST MEMBERS

That may not be surprising for someone who spent his undergraduate days as a part-time journalist, including a stint covering the police beat for the New York Daily News.

``Economists are not known for writing well or expressing themselves in ways that make a great deal of sense to the public,'' said Princeton University Professor Burt Malkiel, a longtime friend and colleague of Blinder. ``He has a terrific communication ability.''

President Clinton named Blinder vice chairman of the Federal Reserve on Friday. He also nominated University of California at Berkeley economist Janet L. Yellen to the seven-member board.

Others in her profession describe Yellen, who has lectured at the London School of Economics and taught at Harvard, as a pragmatist. ``Pragmatic with imagination,'' said economist Charles L. Schultze of the Brookings Institution.

She has written on subjects as diverse as urban gang behavior and currency problems in a reunited Germany.

Economists said Blinder's journalism background may help him bring some unusual skills to the central bank, a sort of mystical temple whose official pronouncements are not likely to be confused with tabloid newspaper stories.

Blinder, 48, a former Princeton economics professor and a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, has written extensively for magazines and newspapers.

In 1987 he published ``Hard heads, Soft Hearts. Tough-minded Economics for a Just Society.'' He also co-wrote a widely used college textbook.

Colleagues say that in addition to being articulate, Blinder has a comprehensive understanding of economics .

Harvey Rosen, a member of the Princeton faculty, said he often disagrees with Blinder but never has doubted his intelligence or his willingness to hear opposing views.

``He's first rate,'' Rosen said. ``He's considerably further to the left than I am. But he's not an ideologue. He's very practical.''

Blinder has called himself a dove on inflation, willing to tolerate some rise in the cost of living to reduce unemployment. Others describe him as someone with a keen social conscience tempered by a practical understanding of costs and benefits.

Yellen, 47, was born in Brooklyn and graduated with highest honors from Brown University. She received a doctorate in economics at Yale University, where she studied with James Tobin, who has criticized recent interest rate increases by the Fed.