Janet Yellen has just released her statement to the Senate banking committee, where she – along with Sarah Raskin and Peter Diamond, other nominees to the Federal Reserve board - faces a grilling from lawmakers today on her bid to become vice-chair of the Federal Reserve replacing Don Kohn.

Ms Yellen, president of the San Francisco Fed, is predictably cautious as she introduces herself to the panel: “I am wholeheartedly committed to pursuing the Fed’s congressionally mandated goals of maximum employment and price stability and to strengthening our programme of supervision and regulation, building on the lessons learned during the financial crisis.”

Her statement gets a little meatier later on, and, reading through the lines, there are two main messages. On monetary policy, Ms Yellen still believes plan A is an eventual tightening. And to Congress, Ms Yellen is very clear: independence is crucial to central banking, so hands off the Fed ! Read more