NYT: Help Wanted: Academic Economists, Pro-Bush

[Pirate Smile]

Help Wanted: Academic Economists, Pro-Bush

By DANIEL ALTMAN
Published: November 27, 2005

IT'S no secret that hurricanes and wars have swamped the economic agenda that George W. Bush planned for his second term. In the commotion, however, one fact has gone largely unnoticed: much of Washington's expert economic team has disappeared.

The chairmanship of the Council of Economic Advisers will soon be vacant, and two spots on the Federal Reserve Board that were recently filled by academic economists already are. There is no assistant secretary of the Treasury for tax policy, and the director's chair at the Congressional Budget Office, currently occupied by Douglas J. Holtz-Eakin, will soon be empty, too.

The White House and Congress need as many as five academic economists of high caliber, and it's not obvious where they will come from. The Republican Party may be facing something of a shallow bench.

"Bush's reputation in at least the academic community is about as low as you can imagine," said William A. Niskanen, who was a member of the council during President Ronald Reagan's first term and is now chairman of the Cato Institute, a libertarian research group. "A lot of people would not be willing to give up a good tenured position for a position in the White House."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/27/business/yourmoney/27view.html

[madrchsod]

1. who in the hell would work for him?

god can this government get any worse?

[Warpy]

2. yeah, guess what? Neoclassical hogwash DOESN'T WORK!!

I mean, who KNEW that there was a valid place for big government during and after a massive disaster? Who knew that skimping on social spending KILLS PEOPLE and makes the boss look like, well, a heartless moron?

Of course, the universities all over the country are churning out replacements as fast as they can, brainwashed and well groomed, eager young folks to parade on media and fill all the jobs vacated by the older but no wiser men with egg all over their faces.

The Hurricane Katrina fiasco provided more than just a tipping point for Stupid's poll numbers, it's called into question all the antigovernment hysteria pushed by both the GOP and the libertarians for years.

Now if only the Democrats will get wise to it.

[Liberal Veteran]

5. The republican worship of the so-called "Guilded Age" mentality...

....will be their own undoing.

They sell it well enough, but eventually people are going to wise up to the fact that huge conglomerates (I think we used to call those "Trusts"), robber barons, poor working conditions, bad paying no-benefit jobs with no time off, and shady backroom deals didn't work before and it won't work now.

[Liberal Veteran]

3. Gee...who'd have thought Bush would have run out of cronies so fast.

Of course he does tend to burn through them like fire on grass plain covered in gasoline.

Perhaps he could recruit some of the Faux News talking heads?

[unblock]

4. how about harriet miers?

[Pirate Smile]

7. Really! Doesn't he have any accountants from his Texas days that he could

stick in these spots. Who did his books?

It isn't like actual qualifications have ever really mattered with these jokers.

[Roy]

13. Nahhh... they are all under indictment :}

nt

[stillcool]

6. only the faith-based need apply.... n/t

[Olney Blue]

8. This president inspires NO ONE.

Public service in government used to be a prized honor. Who wants to be linked intellectually to a corrupt, incompetent administration?

[BeyondGeography]

9. Gosh, isn't there someone from Rev. Faulty-Well's college for sale?

[MO_Dem]

10. Well, there's Brownie, and bro. Neil and......

whattaya mean, they don't want the job? Well, p'r'aps Jenna and Barbara are looking for some meaningful employment? Huh? They don't want the job either? Hey, Karl, you just got yerse'f another title to go along with all yer other titles. Now you are 'econimist in chief' and you better get the job done pronto!

[jazzjunkysue]

11. Only applicants with blinders need apply.

[stepnw1f]

12. Sad.... This Fuck-up Needs to Go NOW! IMPEACH....

The slide needs to end now....

[hadrons]

14. just look for economists with kool-aid stains on their ties ...

[UpInArms]

15. surely there are some PNAC spawn available

for such prominent crony appointments :eyes:

[Gormy Cuss]

16. What a great article.

Niskanen really slams it home when he points out that even conservative Republican economists are uncomfortable with the deficit.

That and the fact that they've dipped down to the associate professor pool means they are scraping the barrel. Next they'll be looking at the pool of ABDs.

[Giant Robot]

17. Isn't Jeb going to need a job soon? n/t