National Economic Council

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With Cohn Leaving, White House Aides Fear 'Disaster'

Plus, who Trump might pick as a replacement, and more

(Newser) - President Trump will choose Gary Cohn's replacement as chief economic adviser soon, he promised via Twitter shortly after Cohn announced his departure. "Many people wanting the job - will choose wisely!" Trump wrote. The Washington Post reports that one of the people Trump is considering is media...

OK, Obama, Now Can We Get Tough on Wall Street?
OK, Obama, Now Can We
Get Tough on Wall Street?
OPINION

OK, Obama, Now Can We Get Tough on Wall Street?

His 2nd term is a chance to do it right: William Cohan

(Newser) - Back when President Obama took office in 2009, many assumed he'd reform the Wall Street system that had just blown a hole in the economy. "It turned out we were either naïve or stupid," author William Cohan writes at Bloomberg . Instead, Obama's administration was stocked...

Obama Begins Staff Overhaul with Eye to Reelection
White House Begins
Staff Overhaul

White House Begins Staff Overhaul

New economic team, defense chief as Obama eyes reelection

(Newser) - President Obama is readying a reorganization of his staff, altering his economic team and choosing new defense and press secretaries, among other changes. The aims: an executive branch operating at its full potential, progress with a Republican Congress, and an eye on reelection, the New York Times reports. “This...

Larry Summers Will Leave White House After Midterms

Top adviser joins exodus of economic team

(Newser) - President Obama's top economic adviser plans to leave the administration at the end of the year, the White House said today. Lawrence Summers will leave his post as director of the National Economic Council to return to Harvard University, where he once served as president before being forced out in...

Larry Summers Will Be Gone by Year's End
Larry Summers Will Be Gone
by Year's End
ANALYSIS

Larry Summers Will Be Gone by Year's End

Adviser irked that Geithner, not he, has Obama's ear

(Newser) - Economics guru Larry Summers will be out the Obama administration by November’s election, or shortly thereafter, Joshua Green contends —mainly out of frustration that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and not he, has become President Obama’s go-to adviser in that area. Blogging for the Atlantic, Green notes that,...

White House Weighs 'Bad Bank' Fix for Fannie, Freddie

(Newser) - The White House’s National Economic Council will meet today to discuss a drastic overhaul of beleaguered nationalized mortgage dealers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Washington Post reports. Among other proposals, officials are contemplating a “good bank, bad bank” split. Fannie and Freddie would dump their troubled loans...

Economy 'Back From the Abyss:' Summers

(Newser) - President Obama's top economist is confident that swift action by the administration averted disaster, ABC News reports. “We were at the brink of catastrophe at the beginning of the year,” Larry Summers says, “but we have walked some substantial distance back from the abyss.” Summers credits...

Everybody Hates Larry
Everybody Hates Larry

Everybody Hates Larry

Presence of divisive Summers cranks up tensions on Obama's economic team

(Newser) - On his 54th birthday, Tim Geithner brought Larry Summers a cake, and the guest of honor ad-libbed some lyrics, bellowing, “for he’s an unpleasant fellow,” rather than “for he’s a jolly good fellow.” In the months since, his colleagues have wondered if he was...

Shhhh, Don't Wake Up Larry

(Newser) - Larry Summers is no doubt putting in a lot of hours these days as a White House economic guru. Which might explain his ill-timed catnap today, in front of the media in the Roosevelt Room, as President Obama expounded on the dangers of the credit card industry, reports the Chicago ...

Economy's 'Free-Fall' Nearly Over: Summers

(Newser) - Top Obama economic adviser Lawrence Summers said today that measures to stabilize the economy will have a discernible effect in the next few months, the Hill reports. Loosening credit and an increased flow of inventory from manufacturers means the sense of “free-fall” will dissipate, though jobless numbers will continue...

Summers Reaped Millions From Bailout Recipients

Earned $2.7M in speakers fees last year

(Newser) - Lawrence Summers, President Obama's top economic adviser, received hefty speaking fees last year from Wall Street giants that later got bailout cash, Bloomberg reports. Summers received a total of $2.7 million from firms like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup on top of the $5.2 million salary he got from...

Give Summers' Genius More Leeway
 Give Summers' 
 Genius More Leeway 
OPINION

Give Summers' Genius More Leeway

To combat crisis, perhaps Obama's economic genius should be given free reign: Scheiber

(Newser) - The most common worry over Larry Summers’ directorship of President Obama’s economics advisory council has been that his hard-charging intellectual style would alienate politicians the administration needs, writes Noam Scheiber in the New Republic. But considering Summers’ experience as Clinton’s Treasury Secretary, as well as his prescient 1991...

Two Voices, One Economic Plan
 Two Voices, One Economic Plan 
ANALYSIS

Two Voices, One Economic Plan

Geithner and Summers speak loudly, cohesively, driving Obama's agenda

(Newser) - Among the policymaking din at the White House, the voices of Larry Summers and Tim Geithner have emerged as the loudest—and generally in unison, the Washington Post reports. The duo first teamed up to battle financial crises in Asia and Mexico in the mid-‘90s at the Treasury Department;...

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