Nominees to Fed board must be professional and politically neutral

SINCE it was created in 1913, the Federal Reserve System - the central bank of the United States with the task of managing the US monetary system so as to forestall financial crises - has stood above partisan politics, even when Washington has been rocked by partisan strife.

The elected US president would appoint the seven members of the Fed's Board of Governors, including its powerful chairman, who would then be confirmed by the Senate, with the norm being that the leaders of the Fed are expected to be qualified, c…