New face

Washington, Nov. 7 (Reuters): The White House is looking to complement Federal Reserve chairman-nominee Ben Bernanke's academic expertise in monetary policy by filling other open Fed board seats with candidates with a grounding in financial markets and regulatory issues, Republican sources said.

White House aide Kevin Warsh and former administration officials Randall Kroszner and Richard Clarida are among those in the running for two open seats on the Fed's board of governors, according to sources inside and close to the White House.

The nomination last month of Bernanke to succeed Fed chairman Alan Greenspan when he steps down in late January received wide applause in financial markets.

Bernanke's vast expertise in monetary policy and his past experience as a Fed governor were seen as strong credentials, but some say his lack of hands-on Wall Street experience is a gap that may need to be filled elsewhere on the Fed board.

Some economists said Bernanke, former chairman of Princeton University's economics department, may have a tendency based on his academic background to rely too heavily on economic models as he monitors the economy's crosscurrents. His skills as a crisis manager are sure to be put to the test as well.

"Those with an academic approach bring really quite a keen mind to the party but not necessarily an awareness of the reality of the markets and economic activity," said Allen Sinai of Decision Economics.

Bernanke spent nearly three years at the Fed before moving into his current job as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers in June. Before that he had taught at Princeton and Stanford universities. He received his Ph D in economics in 1979.