President Barack Obama has chosen Princeton University’s Alan Krueger to be chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
“As one of this country’s leading economists, Alan has been a key voice on a vast array of economic issues for more than two decades,” Mr. Obama said Monday in a statement. He continued, “Alan understands the difficult challenges our country faces, and I have confidence that he will help us meet those challenges as one of the leaders on my economic team.”
Mr. Krueger served 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.
What we have here is a re-cycling of the same people between government and the elitist economists that dominate the Ivy League universities. Larry Summers rotates between Washington D.C. and Harvard University. Christina Romer and Robert Reich are now at UC Berkeley. Austan Goolsbee returns to the University of Chicago.
Alan Krueger brings the same thoughts and ideas that are just a re-tread of the previous advisers. It’s the “yes men” who provide nothing new and simply provide support to the president’s views. This situation is nothing new. Every president that I can remember has done exactly the same thing. Those who are not “yes men” do not last long.
Remember Paul O’Neill under George W. Bush. He held the position of Secretary of the Treasury from January 20, 2001 to December 31, 2002. O’Neill was chairman and CEO of the Pittsburgh industrial giant Alcoa from 1987 to 1999, and retired as chairman at the end of 2000. He was fired for opposing the invasion of Iraq. It was his reward for not being a “yes” man.
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