Who will succeed Bernanke?

With Larry Summers out of the running, the race is on to succeed Ben Bernanke at the head of the Federal Reserve.

Lawrence Summers, reportedly the White House's preferred candidate to become the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, ruled himself out this week. Whichever candidate President Barack Obama nominates this autumn has to be confirmed by the Senate, and Summers acknowledged that he was unlikely to muster the support of a majority of lawmakers in the upper house. His withdrawal makes the current vice-chairwoman, Janet Yellen, the new frontrunner for the job. Current chairman Ben Bernanke's terms ends on 31 January 2014. Global equity markets rose on the news.

What the commentators said

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