Lindsey Picked to Fill Post at Federal Reserve

In a move likely to increase Bush Administration influence at the Federal Reserve Board, White House economist Lawrence Lindsey was nominated Monday to fill a vacancy on the Fed’s board of governors.

President Bush named Lindsey, a strong supporter of supply-side economics and of tax cuts, to fill a vacancy created last summer by the resignation of former Fed Vice Chairman Manuel Johnson.

Lindsey is Bush’s second appointee to the board, which, along with the presidents of the regional Federal Reserve banks, helps set the nation’s monetary policy.

David Mullins, another former Administration official who was appointed to the board last year, was nominated by Bush on Monday to be vice chairman of the board. Mullins is a former Harvard Business School professor who worked with Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady to develop an Administration report on the 1987 stock market crash.

Lindsey, 36, is currently a special assistant to the President for policy development. His nomination has been widely expected as a way for Bush to extend his influence over the board.

But even without a second appointee on the board, Bush already has good relations with Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, a long-time acquaintance. Both the White House and the Fed have been holding regular talks about the direction of economic policy.