Obama Picks New Chief Economist

[flpoljunkie]

Obama Picks New Chief Economist

President Obama plans to nominate Princeton University's Alan Krueger to be chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the Wall Street Journal reports.

"If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Krueger, a labor economist, is likely to provide a voice inside the administration for more-aggressive government action to bring down unemployment and, particularly, to address long-term joblessness."

"Mr. Krueger, 50 years old, returned to Princeton a year ago after serving as assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy during the first two years of the Obama administration -- which means he has recently cleared the sometimes treacherous Senate confirmation process."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/08/29/obama_picks_new_chief_economist.html

[Pab Sungenis]

1. What do we know about his policies?

Is he another supply-side neoliberal or does he know how things actually work?

[hedgehog]

2. This is a man who figures out how things actually work !

David Card and Alan B. Krueger have already made national news with their pathbreaking research on the minimum wage. Here they present a powerful new challenge to the conventional view that higher minimum wages reduce jobs for low-wage workers. In a work that has important implications for public policy as well as for the direction of economic research, the authors put standard economic theory to the test, using data from a series of recent episodes, including the 1992 increase in New Jersey's minimum wage, the 1988 rise in California's minimum wage, and the 1990-91 increases in the federal minimum wage. In each case they present a battery of evidence showing that increases in the minimum wage lead to increases in pay, but no loss in jobs.

A distinctive feature of Card and Krueger's research is the use of empirical methods borrowed from the natural sciences, including comparisons between the "treatment" and "control" groups formed when the minimum wage rises for some workers but not for others. In addition, the authors critically reexamine the previous literature on the minimum wage and find that it, too, lacks support for the claim that a higher minimum wage cuts jobs. Finally, the effects of the minimum wage on family earnings, poverty outcomes, and the stock market valuation of low-wage employers are documented. Overall, this book calls into question the standard model of the labor market that has dominated economists' thinking on the minimum wage. In addition, it will shift the terms of the debate on the minimum wage in Washington and in state legislatures throughout the country.

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/5632.html

[Pab Sungenis]

3. Good!

Maybe the "feet to the fire" strategy is having some good effect. And maybe we'll finally get this economy turned around.

[comtec]

10. Perhaps in his second term obama will grow a pair, and realize he DOES NOT have to play ball

and can start acting like a leader.... FINALLY!

One can only hope that his second term will be RADICALLY (and liberally) different from his first anemic term.

[flpoljunkie]

13. Jared Bernstein thinks Krueger is an 'excellent choice'

White House Makes Great Choice for CEA Head

Aug 30, 2011

Alan Krueger is an excellent choice to head the President’s Council of Economic Advisors.

He’s an expert on job markets and he has an excellent, empiricist’s understanding of what measures could move the needle on unemployment. It’s actually unusual for a labor economist to head the CEA but with unemployment stuck around 9%, it’s an inspired choice.

Alan’s work has often focused on a theme I’ve tried to stress here: that it’s a mistake to form your beliefs on the impact of policies on economic theory alone (Alan would correctly say that my emphasis is “endogenous”–it relies on his work!). The theory is often misrepresented by partisans/advocates who use research the way a drunk uses a streetlight—more for support than illumination (Krugman was the first person I heard use that line, btw…). Or, it’s too simplistic to describe how complex creatures like the job market actually works…or, lately, doesn’t work.

Obviously, the larger question here is how hard policy makers will push for the implementation of solid ideas that could help get people back to work, and how far those ideas will get in air fractious political airspace. But that’s going to be less Alan’s bailiwick—I guarantee you he will be generating those ideas.

http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/white-house-makes-great-choice-for-cea-head/

[vroomvroom]

4. Is Obama Drunk? Krueger didn't have a hand in the economic collapse so why pick him?

Let's face it, Obama's cabinet is loaded with whos-who that started the economic collapse and who love Wall Street. Obama has been doing this consistently. So my guess is he is picking Kruger for campaign reasons..to appeal to his base during the 2012 run expecting full well that the senate wont confirm him because Kruger reads like a blank sheet who doesnt seem to be tainted and corrupted to Congress's nor Obama's likings.

[blkmusclmachine]

5. Another stooge, would be my guess.

n/t

[flpoljunkie]

6. The WSJ article link suggests otherwise.

If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Krueger, a labor economist, is likely to provide a voice inside the administration for more-aggressive government action to bring down unemployment and, particularly, to address long-term joblessness.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903352704576536811283720734.html%253fmod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5

[scheming daemons]

7. Uninformed response that reflects poorly on you n/t

[Dawgs]

9. That's why their OPINION is a GUESS. History will judge if it reflects poorly. n/t

[Avalux]

8. I think Krueger is an excellent pick. Why he'd want the job I don't know,

but I'm glad he's going to do it. A pro-labor thinking man.

[CakeGrrl]

11. If no one wanted the job, who would help fix the economy?

[Avalux]

12. That's true! n/t