Forget The Candidates, Unelected Officials Take Economic Center Stage

Step aside Clinton, Obama, and McCain. Make way for Bernanke, Paulson, and Geithner.

In an election year in which the public and the news media have been focused on the presidential contenders, the crisis playing out in the financial markets is a reminder that for the time being, the most consequential decision-makers are unelected officials.

Despite the hoopla about the November election, the next president's limited options will be determined largely by three unelected men: Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Timothy Geithner.

Not a household name, Geithner is a central player in this drama in his role as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the clearinghouse for the investment houses and banks that lubricate the economy.

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