Hand-picked by President Obama, the confirmation of the current Fed deputy chairman to the top job would, under normal circumstances, be a formality. Yet QE, previously so popular on Wall Street, is increasingly unpopular, on Main Street. Surveys show that voters now worry that the Fed is courting inflation. Having boosted asset prices, QE has conversely crushed deposit rates, so is penalising ordinary savers. Bernanke is due to step down at the end of January, in less than three months. Yet so politicised and sensitive has the Yellen confirmation process become, and so frantic the backroom negotiations, that no date has yet been set for these crucial Congressional hearings, although they're expected around the middle of this month.