Janet Yellen moves out of her Nobel-laureate husband George Akerlof’s shadow

The elevation of Janet Yellen to the top job at the US Federal Reserve has drawn attention to a little-studied phenomenon: the talented spouse. Characterised in power invitation lists as “plus one” to formidably accomplished husbands, only a few wives or partners end up actually reversing their original roles. Women are no slouches when it comes to snagging corner offices, but getting there by breaking the “plus-one” barrier and stepping out from behind their aliveand-kicking husbands is an added achievement. Arguably, Hillary Clinton did just that when she followed up her First Lady’s Office in the West Wing — instead of the traditional East Wing — of the White House with an actual transition to active politics in the State Department via the Senate. She has not made it to the Oval Office — yet — but Bill is indeed now widely regarded as her “plus one”.

Yellen began her career as the under-appreciated “plus one” to George Akerlof, the heavyweight academic who bagged the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001. Not that Akerlof is fed up with his wife’s rise but he and other eclipsed husbands do deserve praise for adjusting to their altered status —from The One to “plus one” — without demur. In India, the recurring power-swap parallel of Rabri Devi-Lalu Prasad doesn’t have quite the same resonance, though.