Why Obama Should Have Picked Me

[Elidor]

By Dean Baker - June 12, 2008, 12:47PM

Like many progressives I was disappointed to hear the line-up for Obama's economic team going into the general election. The lead figure will be Jason Furman, who was the director of the Hamilton Project at Brookings. This project is the brainchild of Robert Rubin the leading light of the Wall Street Democrats. While my friends and fellow progressive economists, Jared Bernstein and Jamie Galbraith are on the team (I have also been contacted), it is clear who has the leading role.

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They have trumpeted the Social Security "crisis" for more than a quarter century, convincing the bulk of the public that the program is on the edge of bankruptcy. While proponents of the crisis view are all over the news, editorial pages, and pundit shows, the basic facts about the program's finances are almost never mentioned.

<snip>

Of course this dichotomy is absurd. NAFTA and the other trade deals are about selective protectionism. They are designed to put manufacturing workers, who tend to be less educated and less highly-paid, into direct competition with low-paid workers in the developing world, while leaving our most highly educated and highly paid workers (e.g. doctors, lawyers, and economists) largely protected. These deals also increase patent and copyright protection, two hugely distortionary forms of protection.

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The reality is that if Obama had picked a progressive economist (a.k.a. a Neanderthal protectionist), who had not been initiated into the Wall Street club, he would have gotten beaten up so badly by the media that he would want Reverend Wright to come back for more press events.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/12/why_obama_should_have_picked_m/

The whole thing is worth a read.

[Larkspur]

1. Obama should have picked Lawrence Mishel, President of the Economic Policy Institute

You can find his bio here http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/economist

Areas of expertise
Income distribution and poverty • Labor markets • Industrial relations • Technology and productivity • Education • Wages • Unions and collective bargaining

Biography
Lawrence Mishel came to the Economic Policy Institute in 1987. As EPI's first research director, then as vice president, and now president, he has played a significant role in building EPI's research capabilities and reputation. He has researched, written, and spoken widely on the economy and economic policy as it affects middle- and low-income families. He is principal author of a major research volume, The State of Working America (published every even-numbered year since 1988) which provides a comprehensive overview of the U.S. labor market and living standards.

A nationally recognized economist, Mishel is frequently called on to testify and provide economic briefings to members of Congress and appears regularly as a commentator on the economy in print and broadcast media. Most recently, he wrote a paper outlining a plan to stimulate the economy, which was widely adopted by policy makers in Washington and beyond.

Education
Ph.D. Economics, University of Wisconsin
M.A. Economics, American University
B.S. Pennsylvania State University