Obama to Tap Berkeley Prof to Chair Council of Economic Advisers

Just because they are in Berkeley doesn't mean they are leftists. I am a conservative and I got my degree in Economics from UCLA. I am hoping that these people will bring a little common sense to an incoming administration that has NO concept of how economics really work. Yes, Bush made socialist mistakes toward the end of his term. But the new President-elect has consistently said that he is going to institute several policies that are very socialist in nature. I am hoping that by tapping some people who understand economics, he may avoid making the mistakes he most naturally would if he merely followed his heart. In all actuality, we would all be better off in the long run if government would pull out completely from all business.

Obama picked people who will help him find a solution to a problem that we all want fixed.

It's hard to find credibility in an argument when you can't even spell Berkeley correctly.

Socialism I am worried about is not government taking over companies. That will have an end date. But new government programs like heathcare are socialistic and if done recklessly could snowball into huge expense. Our budget is 25% social security, 20% Medicare/Medicaid, 10% unemployment, that is 55% and increasing fast. In fact less that 30% of US budget is discretionary, that means a huge part of our mandatory budget has to be paid by taxes.

Though wars and company take overs are certainly bad, they can be reversed. Once committed, social programs are hard to reverse and too generous social programs will either snowball national debt or result in huge taxes. That will only drive away capital from the market. We will be like Europe, without much capital for innovation.

We should not punish the recent economic mistakes and failures with a European solution. That precisely is the danger of current situation.

Let's just hope and pray that someone from the politically sheltered UCB and the socialist leaning community of Berkeley can actually interpret economic developments, appraise programs and activities of the Government, and formulate and recommend national economic policy that will promote employment, production, and purchasing power. Alice is definitely leaving Wonderland.

Maybe I should contact the Government for a 2000.00 dollar bailout..see how fast they laugh my poor ass off the property! LOL

Since you are against those individuals who graduated from Harvard, Yale, Princeton etc. why not offer us some new suggestions regarding who should fill those positions. Perhaps you would like to take first dib at one of them since you appear as the master of solutions. Come on you people, the complainers and cynics, I believe even if you or a relative were placed in any of those positions you would still gripe and complain...grow up!!!

The Romers are not wild-eyed leftists. In fact, Christie made her reputation early on with research suggesting that Keynesian stabilization policies as actually applied may not have stabilized the economy compared to the "bad old days" of the 19th century gold standard.

That said, I think she does believe that Keynesian policy correctly applied will smooth out business cycles--a point of which I am much less sure. Still, you could do way, way worse--Romer is a data-driven type who will help keep policy from swinging out into crazy land.

"Before, you get all out of whack, think about it. Use government funds to buy equity in privately owned companies, ie socialism."

Matt - The Bush administration is apparently doing the same socialistic thing in the bail outs. For instance, it's buying up Citi assets, along with a lot of their toxicity.

Hasn't the current administration already taken those initial steps into socialism by taking over AIG?
I don't see where one gets the idea of Obama being a socialist, even McCain dismissed that concept during the campaign, and his people started the whole hoopla. He doesn't even want universal health care like Hillary did, and that's a big step into socialism.

You all don't get it. This is a perfect fit for Obama. You don't get the fact that he's not trying to fix the situation, he wants to use it to propel us into socialism. Before, you get all out of whack, think about it. Use government funds to buy equity in privately owned companies, ie socialism. These two liberals from Berkeley are perfect for that task.

what i know for sure is bush and crew
and anything the reps have to give us,
should be rejected.

give the new people a chance, at least we are not having to rely on bush and co. to get us out of this mess.

Just took a look at the INDU .. it was up 334 when Obama began introducing his economic team .. but up only 220 when he was done .. a 110 point loss on the effort.

Are these the hate filled anti military agenda driven people who degraded the men in uniform. I also recall that they may be the same who advocate taking away your 401K and sending the money to the social security (Lock Box). Pure theift.

Under the prevailing circumstances, in today's political process: changing of the guard. Let's NOT overwhelm ourselves with Barack Obama's handpicked top-notch group with their magnificent backgrounds. Reminds me, of the degreed & much lauded hordes of "YUPPIES" who descended on "Wall Street" in the 80's with their "GREED is GOOD" mantra ... brought us where we are today! Therefore, best to be hopeful with guarded optimism!

Seeing Greenspan's name gives me pause, after all his pursuit of low inflation kept money cheap and contributed to the housing bubble and sussequent crash, which we currently enjoying.

Fran wrote: "Please stop your complaining, this country is going down the tubes, wherever the help comes from, to stop the bleeding should be appreciated."

But, Fran, it won't help. Printing more money, creating looser credit, re-inflating bubbles, and digging the US deeper into debt will only make matters worse. They're not stopping the bleeding - they're exanguinating it.

Why is that concept so hard for to people to grasp? Is it because students spend more time learning about multiculturalism rather than economics?

Please stop your complaining, this country is going down the tubes, wherever the help comes from, to stop the bleeding should be appreciated. Mr. Obama may not do every single thing right, but someone has do do something. Continue to think of the mess we are all going through right now as a country, what does it matter if it is old or new faces doing the job as long as the job gets done.

Chase, please. Saying that those institutions only produce bad graduates is laughable. For your list of names of people "responsible" for our economic situation there is a list twenty times as long of people from those same institutions that are tops in their fields, and doing great work that benefits many people. Sorry you didn't get accepted, but those are still great schools!

How does he find these people. I am genuinely curious. To think that he was just a state senator just a four years ago. Tells you how many intelligent people languish away in somewhat dull positions. If nothing else, you have to appreciate his scope. Maybe I'm making too much out of nothing tho.

Chase Straus, is Dartmouth ok? Becareful how you answer that question?

Where does it end?

Google "Weimar Republic" and "America's Great Depression."

Keynesian economics has been thoroughly discredited, yet they still try. Sadly, it will be to our detriment, not theirs.

Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
--George Santayana