Imagine Janet Yellen in a Loincloth, Her Eyes Closed, and Her Face Revealing Oneness with the Universe...

That's the only way you will be able to put her speeches into perspective.

Gary North explains:

Janet Yellen gave a speech on July 2. It of course received considerable attention in the financial media.

Over the years, I have dutifully provided translations of speeches by the chairmen of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System — that tiny part of the FED that is technically part of the U.S. government. As far as I know, I am the only financial columnist who provides a translation service out of FEDspeak into English.

Greenspan was a master of FEDspeak. Bernanke preferred to give long, boring summaries, with lots of footnotes, of the recent history of financial events that everyone already knew about. When he did say anything of substance, it usually turned out to be wrong, such as his repeated insistence that there was no housing bubble.

Yellen takes a different approach. She prefers to talk about what the Federal Reserve might do, and really ought to do, but has not yet done. She scrupulously avoids mentioning deadlines. The following observation is clearly the essence of her job as chairman: “Janet Yellen would not be caught dead with a deadline.” This leaves the door open to wiggle room in the future.

All of this confuses the issues. All of this fills up allotted speech time without providing any specifics. This is the FED’s version of “transparency.” Transparency in bureaucratic affairs means this: “provide an illusion to the public that something significant is being revealed, when nothing significant is being revealed.” On the contrary, anything significant is being concealed.

The key to understanding Dr. Yellen’s Chairmanship from this point on is to understand that she is something of a mystic. Imagine an Indian swami in a loincloth, his eyes closed, and his face revealing oneness with the universe. He keeps repeating a mantra. He says: “Om.”