Seger Plans to Resign Post at Federal Reserve
Federal Reserve Board member Martha R. Seger, the central bank’s most persistent advocate of lower interest rates, said Wednesday that she plans to leave the board.
Seger, 58, is the Fed’s longest-serving governor and only the second woman to be appointed in its 78-year history. She was chosen by President Reagan to serve a 14-year term starting July, 1984.
Her departure, which she said will occur in about two months, will give President Bush his fourth appointment to the seven-member board. She sent Bush a letter of resignation Tuesday.
During her tenure, Seger was often the lone dissenter in favor of stimulating economic growth with lower interest rates. This marked her as an outsider in an organization where most decisions are made by consensus and public controversy is rare.
Seger wrote Bush that she was leaving to earn more money by lecturing to college students and serving on corporate boards. Federal Reserve Board members are paid $115,300 per year.
She also cited her “family situation.” Her elderly mother, who lives in Arizona, is ill.
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