ABC News reports Obama economic adviser Goolsbee will take Roemer's spot as Chair of Council of Economic Advisers. I was hoping for Laura Tyson,who just wrote in t he NYT an arguement for the need for more massive stimulus spending. Also with Goolsbee in all of Obama's economic team will be male and white. I dont know alot Goolsbee's positions or how vocal he is int he administration which badly needs a progressive on economic matters. More below..
What do yall know about this guy? I d recall a flap he got into in the 08 primary where he reassured Canada that Obama wouldnt crack down on NAFTA despite the fact Obama said he would.
Administration sources tell ABC News that at the start of his press conference Friday morning, President Obama will formally announced that he is appointing University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee to be chair of his Council of Economic Advisers.
Goolsbee, 41, has already been confirmed by the Senate to serve as one of the three economists on the CEA; President Obama has the prerogative to appoint the chair. ...
The 1991 Yale grad is popular in the administration and appreciated for his communications skills, evidenced by his frequent cable TV bookings, his former hosting of a show on the History Channel, his former column in the New York Times and his award as Funniest Celebrity in Washington in 2009.
ABC News
NYT has more details-
Reports Goolsbeee comes as a surprise. Many thought it would be a woman. Also Goolsbee is a rival of Summers- and sometimes not in a good way. Goolsbee opposed bailing out the auto industry and has advocated for major free trade expansions.
He is a known ally of Volker and pushed for stronger regulations on the banks :
Mr. Goolsbee has also been the staff director of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, a panel of business, labor and academic officials providing outside perspective. As such he worked closely with Paul A. Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, and shared with him a preference for tougher regulation of the financial industry than Mr. Geithner and others espoused.
NYT