This one comes from former CFTC chairperson Sheila Bair, who participated in a panel today on restoring economic growth in America. Asked afterwards about Janet Yellen’s gender playing a role in the nominating process, she responded:

Janet Yellen can stand on her own. The fact that she’s a women should be irrelevant to this. I think her gender has been working against her. Some people have been saying that if she gets it, it’s just because she’s a woman. That’s nonsense. Of all the candidates I’ve heard about, I view her as the most qualified.

Absolutely. It should be icing on the cake for President Obama that the most qualified candidate would also be a groundbreaking choice.

Bair then brought up another aspect of Yellen’s candidacy that I haven’t seen written anywhere before: her lengthy time in public service.

[Her appointment] would make an important statement about public service. Revolving door is an accepted practice in Washington. I don’t fault people who do it. But there have been a number of high-level appointments where you’ve had people going in and out of Wall Street. Janet’s not one of those people. Most of her recent career has been in public service or in academia. Some people say, ‘Well, she doesn’t have Wall Street experience.’ I view that as a positive. She hasn’t done the revolving door. She’s got a good public image. That would be another thing that argues in her favor. Others who do come from Wall Street or have come back and forth from there  will reinforce the public’s cynicism that I worry about. But she does not have that. It would be a good tribute to those who do spend most of their time in public service.

Yellen is the best candidate for the job. Period. But this is yet another reason to select her. The Obama economic circle is littered with people with recent ties to the financial industry. That’s not a knock on them – as Bair pointed out, it’s common practice in Washington. But the Fed is going to make a lot of major regulatory decisions in the next couple of years. Wouldn’t it be nice if the Fed Chair wasn’t buddy-buddy with a bunch of bankers interested in watering down those rules?

Bair also correctly emphasizes that nominating Yellen would signal to career public servants that their loyalty to their jobs will not harm their chances of being promoted in the future. I think the counterfactual is even more convincing though. Imagine if Obama selects Summers and one of the reasons for doing so is because of his private sector experience. Now, government officials have incentives to leave their jobs to gain such experience. After all, Obama just demonstrated that not having it will reduce their chances of promotion. The revolving door isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as Matt Yglesias pointed out. But it presents the opportunity for rent-seeking and quid-pro-quo agreements that hinder federal agencies. Selecting Yellen sends a signal to government officials that private sector experience – using the revolving door – is not necessary.

Overall, it’s not a big enough reason to choose Yellen over Summers. Most public workers aren’t going to suddenly decide they desperately need private sector experience if Summers is chosen. But it is yet another advantage that Yellen has. At this point, it shouldn’t be a difficult decision for the President: Yellen is the best choice. We’ll find out soon enough.