(2013-0723-F) Janet Yellen - Council of Economic Advisors

241 folders, approximately 10,751 pages

This collection consists of records related to Janet Yellen, who was Chairperson of the CEA [Council of Economic Advisors] from 1997-1999. It contains memoranda and briefings concerning details such as economic indicators, industrial production, housing starts, consumer attitudes, consumer price index, inflation, gross domestic product (GDP), interest rates, and stock prices. This collection also consists of email to and from Yellen’s White House email account includes discussion of a wide variety of topics, including but not limited to Product Liability, Kyoto (Climate Change), Federal Involvement in Retail Electricity Competition (FERC), Trade Liberalization, World Trade Organization (WTO) trade wars, the 1997 Asian Economic Crisis, the 1998 Japanese Financial Crisis, and Y2K preparations. Many emails are related to preparing the Economic Report of the President.

The materials in 2013-0723-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. FOIA request 2013-0723-F contains records dealing with Janet Yellen’s work in the Clinton Administration. Specifically, this focuses on the years she spent as Chairperson of the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA). For a period of approximately 30 months (February 18, 1997 – August 3, 1999) Yellen served as a guiding force behind the CEA and played a major role in shaping the economic policies of the Clinton Administration. Yellen has held a number of positions since the Clinton Administration where she has assisted formulating economic policy. President Obama nominated her for the post of vice-chair of the Federal Reserve System in 2010, and four years later after being confirmed by the Senate she became the Chair of that body. In 2014, Yellen received the distinction of being selected by Forbes as the second most influential woman in the world. Responsive documents can be found in the White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) Subject File, General and CF. Memoranda and briefings concern details such as economic indicators, industrial production, housing starts, consumer attitudes, consumer price index, inflation, gross domestic product (GDP), interest rates, and stock prices. The briefings entitled the “Weekly Economic Briefing of the President of the United States” run from February 28, 1997 through July 23, 1999. Yellen is presumed to have been the author of the reports, which contain notes and President Clinton’s handwriting. Topics covered include current developments, analysis of specific problems, regional roundups, international issues, and U.S. economic and financial statistics. Memos are usually from Yellen to President Clinton and can have subject lines such as “National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM) National Report,” “Consumer Price Indexes for November, Labor Department Release,” and “January Housing Starts and Permits, Commerce Department Release.” The Staff and Office Files of Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles contain a memo from Janet Yellen offering direction and advice on the “President’s Economic Policy Priorities for Multi-Agency Action.” The files of Stacy Reynolds in the Counsel’s Office are comprised of articles by Yellen and newspaper stories about her. Much of the same material turns up in the papers of Mark Silverman of the National Economic Council (NEC). It is supplemented by a few records containing basic facts about the nomination of Yellen to head up the CEA. Email printed from the Automated Records Management System and the Tape Restoration Project in response to this request contain correspondence to and from Janet Yellen. Email to and from Yellen’s White House email account includes discussion of a wide variety of topics, including Product Liability, Kyoto (Climate Change), Federal Involvement in Retail Electricity Competition (FERC), Trade Liberalization, World Trade Organization (WTO) trade wars, the 1997 Asian Economic Crisis, the 1998 Japanese Financial Crisis, and Y2K preparations. Many responsive printed emails are related to the Economic Report of the President. The Economic Report of the President is an annual report written by the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. Specifically, email related to the ERP includes multiple drafts and discussion related to editing decisions. Email from this collection also includes memos to the President in draft form. These memos often exist as attachments to responsive emails. Emailed correspondence comes from many accounts inside and outside the office of the Council of Economic Advisors. Some correspondents include Jeffrey Frankel, Lawrence Summers, Robert Lawrence, David Sandalow, Joseph Aldy, Nouriel Roubini, and Cheryl Sandberg.

Textual

Records that were responsive to this FOIA request were found in these collection areas—Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM Subject Files, Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM Subject FilesCF, Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files, Clinton Presidential Records: Automated Records Management System [Email], and Clinton Presidential Records: Tape Restoration Project. The White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) contains a variety of series created to organize and track documents and correspondence. The WHORM Subject file was compiled by the White House Office of Records Management and is a series of categories designated by a letter/number combination. Staff and Office files were maintained at the folder level by staff members within their individual offices and document all levels of administration activity. WHORM files are processed at the document level; whereas, Staff and Office files are processed at the folder level that is individual documents are not selected and removed from a folder for processing. While this method maintains folder integrity, it frequently results in the incidental processing of documents that are not wholly responsive to the subject area. The Automated Records Management System (ARMS) is a database that contains email records of the Executive Office of the President. This system maintained unclassified Presidential email. The ARMS database is comprised of six sub-series of email records called "buckets." The buckets generally represent a specific White House office. The buckets are titled: NPR for National Performance Review, OPD for Office of Policy Development, POTUS for President of the United States, WHO for White House Office, CEA for Council of Economic Advisers, and Default for emails not associated with an office. The CEA bucket contains email created or received by an individual with a Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) White House user account. ARMS emails are arranged by topic, there-under by bucket, and there-under chronologically by creation date. The Tape Restoration Project (TRP) is a database consisting of restored emails from the Automated Records Management System (ARMS) from July 1994 through June of 2000. The TRP is a database that contains email records of the Executive Office of the President. This system maintained unclassified Presidential record email. The TRP database is comprised of the same six sub-series of email as in ARMS. TRP emails are arranged by topic, there-under by bucket, and there-under chronologically by creation date. FOIA 2013-0723-F includes WHORM records from these subject codes: [BE] [Business – Economics] [BE003] [Industry] [BE004] [National Economy] [BE004-01] [Cost of Living] [BE004-02] [Inflation] [BE004-03] [National Income – Product Data – GDP (Gross Domestic Product)] [CO001-03] [Asia] [FG001] [President of the United States] [FG006-12] [Council of Economic Advisors] [FG143] [Federal Reserve System, Board of Governors] [FI] [Finance] [FI004] [Budget – Appropriations] [FI007] [Interest Rates] [HS] [Housing] [IT071] [Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development] [LA002] [Conditions – Employment – Unemployment] [LA006] [Wages – Hours] [SP220-99] [Economic Report of the President for 1999] [TA] [Trade] [TA003] [Exports]

Collection is open to all researchers. Access to Clinton Presidential Records is governed by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22, as amended) and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended) and therefore records may be restricted in whole or in part in accordance with legal exemptions.

Official records of William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency are housed at the Clinton Presidential Library and administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the provisions of the Presidential Records Act (PRA).

Staff Archivist, 2014. Previously restricted materials are added as they are released

The following is a list of documents and folders in response to 2013-0723-F:
Box 1
Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject File
Category Case Number
BE 203496SS
207544SS
208788SS
209849SS
210749SS
214172SS
215016SS
216991SS
218738SS
220477SS
221556SS
222674SS
223635SS
224676SS
225279SS
226079SS
227165SS
228079SS
229470SS
230490SS
233163SS
234480SS
235470SS
236528SS
237508SS
238197SS
238894SS
239831SS
240616SS
241811SS
242424SS
243824SS
244876SS
245679SS
246518SS
248094SS
249182SS
Box 2
Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject File (continued)
Category Case Number
BE 250004SS
251989SS
252807SS
253680SS
254551SS
255445SS
256218SS
257142SS
258002SS
258876SS
259676SS
260382SS
261088SS
261966SS
263797SS
264682SS
266436SS
268061SS
269634SS
270350SS
271006SS
271837SS
272744SS
273676SS
277020SS
277497SS
278290SS
279008SS
281554SS
287894SS
291865SS
292859SS
293738SS
294563SS
295313SS
296127SS
Box 3
Category Case Number
BE 301444SS
302270SS
303748SS
305418SS
306112SS
306629SS
307460SS
Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject File (continued)
Category Case Number
309040SS
310404SS
311083SS
311899SS
BE003 229440SS
244064SS
265557SS
303071SS
BE004 228580SS
267586SS
272170SS
284605SS
284788SS
291341SS
294832SS
BE004-01 245989SS
249580SS
251037SS
253280SS
267584SS
278170SS
294264SS
296717SS
BE004-02 210921SS
BE004-03 229166SS
233906SS
268813SS
280648SS
283047SS
284275SS
296320SS
296454SS
296550SS
312406SS
CO001-03 239791SS
FG001 218689SS
FG006-12 314754
FG143 205983
207360SS
227824SS
FI 218454SS
FI004 280964SS
FI007 244063SS
265554SS
274585SS
280965SS
284783SS
296135SS
Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject File (continued)
Category Case Number
296840SS
304756SS
HS 245988SS
253279SS
267585SS
IT071 213674SS
LA002 228582SS
229441SS
233589SS
237354SS
276959SS
306569SS
LA006 224083SS
236688SS
Box 4
Category Case Number
SP220-99 299045SS [1]
299045SS [2]
TA 253427SS
256078SS
TA003 278169SS
Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject File CF
Category Case Number
BE 211785SS
213024SS
217847SS
219524SS
230490SS
265737SS
267240SS
279999SS
280875SS
282241SS
BE 283062SS
284043SS
284648SS
285339SS
286582SS
287346SS
290399SS
297484SS
298305SS
299363SS
300288SS
303478SS
304621SS
Box 5
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Chief of Staff
Bowles, Erskine
Janet Yellen [OA/ID 12286]
Counsel’s Office
Reynolds, Stacy
Yellen, Janet [1] [OA/ID 9722]
Yellen, Janet [2] [OA/ID 9722]
Yellen, Janet [3] [OA/ID 9722]
National Economic Council
Silverman, Mark
CEA [Council of Economic Advisors] – Janet Yellen [1] [OA/ID 11816]
CEA [Council of Economic Advisors] – Janet Yellen [2] [OA/ID 11816]
CEA [Council of Economic Advisors] – Janet Yellen [3] [OA/ID 11816]
Sperling, Gene
Yellen, Janet [OA/ID 19189]
Presidential Personnel
General Files
Folder #1 [Janet Yellen] [OA/ID 10384]
Yellen, Janet [OA/ID 19617]
Yellen, Janet [OA/ID 21568]
McMahan, Natasha
Folder #9 [Janet L. Yellen] [OA/ID 19886]
Box 6
Clinton Presidential Records: Automated Records Management System [Email]
CEA [OA/ID 950000]
[Yellen]
[02/18/1997 – 04/02/1997]
[04/03/1997 – 06/12/1997]
[06/12/1997 – 07/13/1997]
[07/13/1997 – 08/09/1997]
[08/12/1997 – 09/16/1997]
[09/16/1997 – 09/23/1997]
Box 7
CEA [OA/ID 950000]
[Yellen]
[09/23/1997 – 10/01/1997]
[10/01/1997 – 10/03/1997]
[10/04/1997 – 10/21/1997]
[10/21/1997 – 11/14/1997]
[11/15/1997 – 12/03/1997]
[12/03/1997 – 01/02/1998]
Clinton Presidential Records: Automated Records Management System [Email] (continued)
Box 8
CEA [OA/ID 950000]
[Yellen]
[01/02/1998 – 01/21/1998]
[01/21/1998 – 02/01/1998]
[02/01/1998 – 02/05/1998]
[02/05/1998]
[02/05/1998 – 02/09/1998]
[02/09/1998 – 02/13/1998]
Box 9
CEA [OA/ID 950000]
[Yellen]
[02/13/1998 – 02/23/1998]
[02/23/1998 – 02/27/1998]
[02/27/1998 – 03/12/1998]
[03/12/1998 – 04/16/1998]
[04/16/1998 – 05/14/1998]
Box 10
CEA [OA/ID 950000]
[Yellen]
[05/15/1998 – 05/28/1998]
[05/28/1998 – 06/09/1998]
[06/09/1998 – 06/19/1998]
[06/19/1998 – 07/21/1998]
[07/21/1998 – 07/30/1998]
[07/30/1998 – 08/21/1998]
Box 11
CEA [OA/ID 950000]
[Yellen]
[08/21/1998 – 09/04/1998]
[09/04/1998 – 09/09/1998]
[09/09/1998 – 09/16/1998]
[09/16/1998 – 09/23/1998]
[09/23/1998 – 10/04/1998]
[10/04/1998 – 10/05/1998]
[10/06/1998 – 10/15/1998]
Box 12
CEA [OA/ID 950000]
[Yellen]
Clinton Presidential Records: Automated Records Management System [Email] (continued)
[10/16/1998 – 10/28/1998]
[10/28/1998 – 11/24/1998]
[11/24/1998 – 12/14/1998]
[12/14/1998 – 12/30/1998]
[12/30/1998]
[12/30/1998 – 12/31/1998]
[01/04/1999] [1]
Box 13
CEA [OA/ID 950000]
[Yellen]
[01/04/1999] [2]
[01/05/1999 – 01/11/1999]
[01/11/1999]
[01/11/1999 – 01/12/1999]
[01/12/1999 – 01/15/1999]
[01/15/1999 – 01/21/1999]
Box 14
CEA [OA/ID 950000]
[Yellen]
[01/21/1999 – 01/26/1999]
[01/27/1999 – 02/02/1999]
[02/02/1999 – 02/15/1999]
[02/15/1999 – 02/26/1999]
[02/26/1999 – 03/11/1999]
[03/11/1999 – 04/01/1999]
Box 15
CEA [OA/ID 950000]
[Yellen]
[04/02/1999 – 05/05/1999]
[05/11/1999 – 06/02/1999]
[06/03/1999 – 07/29/1999]
Clinton Presidential Records: Tape Restoration Project [Email]
CEA [OA/ID 950000]
[Yellen]
[07/22/1997 – 01/08/1999]