of central banks, especially in Europe, where both the ECB and the Bank of England are currently bereft of girl power at the top of the tree. A cursory glance at the Central Bank Directory shows just 12 of the world's 160 central banks had female governors last year. That's about 6 %. Such figures would not be acceptable on the board of your average listed firm. Last year 15 % of directors at FTSE 100 companies were women while the EU is pushing for boards to raise that quota to 40 % by the end of the decade. READ MORE: Women still missing from Asia boards Yellen is no ordinary women or economist. She is an extraordinarily experienced, trusted pair of hands who faces a formidable task ahead in trying to wean world markets off five years of basically free money. But in elevating her to its helm, the Fed joins a woefully short list of national banks with female governors that includes not exactly influential countries like Belarus, the Kyrgyz Republic and Samoa. Though her appointment still has to be approved Yellen's promotion will make her arguably the second most powerful person in the United States. If women can take on a mantle as big as that, surely it's time they had more of a say in the clubby world of monetary policy.