Reply #5: Obama's economist pick seen as sign of new agenda [View All]

[ozymandius]

Maybe Larry Summers' ideas were worth something after all. He showed how -not- to conduct economic policy.

Obama is expected to announce a replacement for departing National Economic Council director Lawrence Summers early in the new year, soon after he returns to Washington from his Hawaiian vacation. The president's choice is being closely watched for signs of where he wants to take his economic agenda in the second half of his term, and how he looks to bring down the almost double-digit unemployment rate.

Will he tap the business world with a figure such as Roger Altman, an investment banker and Clinton administration alumnus who might carry too much baggage from his association with Wall Street? Will he turn to academia instead, calling on a scholar such Yale President Richard Levin? Or will he go with deeply experienced insiders such as deficit hawk Gene Sperling at the Treasury Department or Jason Furman, the council's deputy director?

With the unemployment rate at 9.8 percent, the private sector struggling to maintain steady growth and the public ranking the economy as the top concern, Obama's handling of the issue over the coming months is certain to play a central role in his expected reelection bid.

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The only hope I have with this decision is someone will take the spot who does not come pressed from the Robert Rubin mold as Summers.