The FOMC has 12 voting members:
- The seven members of the Board of Governors
- The President of the NY Fed
- And four members drawn from the pool of eleven regional Fed heads. These members serve a one-year term only; each year these four are replaced with four of the other seven regional Fed heads.
The first meeting of 2013 is due on January 29 and 30; at this meeting the four regional Fed Presidents are replaced with a different four.
- The four being replaced are: Lacker, Lockhart, Pianalto and Williams.
- They are being replaced by: Evans, Rosengren, Bullard and George.
I would classify the four being replaced as:
- OUT (Hawk) Jeffrey M. Lacker, Richmond
- OUT (Centre/dove) Dennis P. Lockhart, Atlanta
- OUT (Centre/dove) Sandra Pianalto, Cleveland
- OUT (Centre/dove) John C. Williams, San Francisco
And I would classify the four incoming voters as:
- IN (Dove) Charles L. Evans, Chicago
- IN (Dove) Eric S. Rosengren, Boston
- IN (Centre) James Bullard, St. Louis
- IN (Hawk) Esther George, Kansas City
On balance, the four incoming voters give the FOMC voters as a whole (don’t forget, there are 8 ‘permanent’ voting members who are not changing this year) a slightly more dovish tone than otherwise.