economic adviser

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Summers Is Latest Misplay by Obama's Inept Econ Team

Heidi Moore can't believe these guys think they've done a good job

(Newser) - The main question isn't why Larry Summers pulled his name out of the Federal Reserve Chairman derby yesterday, it's "how his candidacy even got this far," writes Heidi Moore at the Guardian . Many prominent senators openly opposed his nomination, as did 300 economists. From the beginning,...

Austan Goolsbee to Leave White House

Economic guru returning to teach at University of Chicago

(Newser) - Another one bites the dust: Austan Goolsby, President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers chairman, is heading off into the sunset to return to his job as a professor of economics at the University of Chicago. He's been on leave for four years to serve Obama, Politico notes, and...

Volcker to Join White House Exodus
Volcker to Join
White House Exodus

Volcker to Join White House Exodus

Economic titan leaves mixed legacy, will continue to advise

(Newser) - Economic heavyweight Paul Volcker is adding his name to the list of advisers leaving the White House this month, reports Reuters. The 83-year-old architect of the Volcker Rule will no longer head up the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board , but has indicated that he'll continue to advise President Obama as...

Obama Needs a B-Team
 Obama Needs  
 a B-Team 
opinion

Obama Needs a B-Team

Dissent among insiders could save his presidency

(Newser) - President Obama’s top advisers have had their chance, and Tuesday proves they blew it, writes American Prospect editor Robert Kuttner. The trouble is that “an in-group of experts often becomes an echo chamber, reinforcing their own prejudices and excluding people with different views,” he notes in the...

Obama's New Economic Adviser: Austan Goolsbee

'Inner circle' member will replace Christina Romer

(Newser) - Austan Goolsbee will succeed Christina Romer as the chair of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers. The president made the announcement today at the beginning of his press conference on the economy; administration sources leaked Goolsbee's name last night. Goolsbee, 41, is a University of Chicago economist and member of...

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 ...

Obama's Econ Board Doesn't Look So Transparent
Obama's Econ Board Doesn't Look So Transparent
ANALYSIS

Obama's Econ Board Doesn't Look So Transparent

Transparency falling to expediency?

(Newser) - When Barack Obama announced his Paul Volcker-led economic advisory board, he said it would meet every 2 weeks. Six weeks later it still hasn’t met, and isn’t planning on doing so until “late spring”—at least not publicly. Board members hint that some are meeting in...

Obama Should Draft Krugman
 Obama Should Draft Krugman 
OPINION

Obama Should Draft Krugman

NYT columnist would do a lot better than Geithner and Summers

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s economic team so far has failed to inspire confidence, writes Steven Stark for the Boston Phoenix. Instead of Geithner and Summer, Obama should pick a new man to lead the charge on the financial crisis: Appoint Paul Krugram, Nobel laureate and economics columnist for the New York ...

Obama Names Economic Panel, Volcker to Lead

Drawing on industry and academia, Obama hopes to avoid Beltway vacuum

(Newser) - The White House today named a team of economic advisers, led by former Fed chairman Paul Volcker, to help shape the economic recovery with voices from outside the Beltway, the Washington Post reports. With an initial term of 2 years, the White House Economic Recovery Advisory Board will add to...

Publishers Rush to Meet Need for Financial Advice

Bevy of new books strikes more somber, conservative tone

(Newser) - Book publishers and sellers are rushing to meet demand for personal-finance titles as the unrelenting economic crisis combines with New Year’s resolutions to prompt consumers to seek professional advice, the Wall Street Journal reports. However, the thrown-together texts might not prove very helpful: Many authors fail to provide specifics...

Obama Team's Stimulus 'Jolt' Nears $1T

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s economic advisers are devising a new stimulus package that could top $1 trillion over 2 years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Insiders say the $500 billion plan considered last month is too cautious given America’s mounting economic woes. "Every day there's a new bad number"...

Obama Labor Snub Has Unions Worried
Obama Labor Snub Has Unions Worried
ANALYSIS

Obama Labor Snub Has Unions Worried

With no secretary yet among Obama's economic team, labor mulls role, agenda

(Newser) - Labor unions campaigned hard for Barack Obama, but are now worried he may have taken them for a ride, Politico reports. Unions noted with concern that there was no labor secretary-designate among the economic advisers introduced Monday, suggesting Obama isn’t emphasizing the position. “I hope they take that...

Obama Fiscal Team Reunites Rubin Protégés

But even ex-Treasury boss losing Clinton-era free-market policies

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s incoming administration is stocked with acolytes of Bill Clinton-era Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, reports the New York Times. But even Rubin and his protégés are no longer quite as enamored as they once were of so-called Rubinomics—deregulation, balanced budgets, and free trade. Facing economic...

Obama Advisers Please the Right, But Not Much
Obama Advisers Please the Right, But Not Much
OPINION

Obama Advisers Please the Right, But Not Much

Two 'pro-free-trade' centrists guide him, up to a point

(Newser) - If Barack Obama takes office, conservatives can take a small measure of comfort knowing that  two of his top economic advisers have generated angst on the left for being "centrist, pro-free-traders," writes Cesar Conda in the Weekly Standard. Austan Goolsbee and Jason Furman—the latter a Wal-Mart defender—...

Economy's Woes Put McCain Advisers in Spotlight

Brain trust's credentials questioned in economic slump

(Newser) - John McCain's choice of economic advisers is stirring up controversy, the Washington Post reports. Phil Gramm is vice-chairman of troubled UBS and oversaw widespread deregulation as chair of the Senate Banking Committee in the late 1990s, and Carly Fiorina was publicly ousted as CEO of Hewlett-Packard. In the current economic...

Clinton Slams Obama Over Nafta Talk

Report: Aide assured Canada the candidate was only 'positioning'

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton hammered Barack Obama today over reports that his chief economic adviser privately told Canadian officials anti-Nafta talk was “more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy.” The simmering story lurched forward today when the AP obtained the Canadian memo, reports Talking Points Memo. Obama's...

In '08, It's Really the Economy, Stupid

Worried over job, credit, health woes, voters put Iraq on back burner

(Newser) - With gas prices stratospheric, the housing market tanking, and recession looking likely, voters aren't too worried about Iraq, reports the Wall Street Journal. Job concerns have transformed illegal immigration and health care into major issues. “You have to have a health plan even in the Republican primary,” says...

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