“The Obama administration is assembling a shortlist of candidates to lead the Federal Reserve, in the expectation that chairman Ben Bernanke won’t seek reappointment when his second term at the central bank ends in January, according to people familiar with the matter.

“The search is in the early stages and there is no front-runner, according to these people, who wouldn’t divulge any names on the shortlist. A selection might not be announced until early fall, they said. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is putting together the list, working with senior White House officials.

“President Barack Obama could try to persuade Mr. Bernanke to serve a third four-year term. But many of Mr. Bernanke’s friends and associates say he wants to step down, after nearly eight years overseeing the central bank’s response to the most serious economic downturn since the Great Depression.

“Mr. Bernanke has left his mark on the U.S. economy with a wave of easy-money policies in response to the 2008 financial crisis, recession and sluggish recovery that followed.”

***

Read full Wall Street Journal article here