NBER Committee announces Bush recession as member joins Obama team [MY TITLE]

Yahoo News ^ | Mon Nov 24, 11:06 am ET | Reuters

[expat_panama]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Christina Romer, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, as the head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, a Democratic source told Reuters on Monday.

Reuters – Council of Economic Advisors Director-designate Christina Romer listens as President-elect Barack Obama 

 

The pick is to be announced at an 11 a.m. CST (12 p.m. EST) news conference, where Obama will also unveil his selection of Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary and Lawrence Summers as head of the White House National Economic Council.

The three-member Council of Economic Advisers makes recommendations to the president on policy options. Along with the director of the National Economic Council, the CEA chairperson plays an influential role in crafting the president's policy plans.

[snip]

Romer is also a member of the panel at the NBER's Business Cycle Dating Committee, which is considered the nation's arbiter of recessions and economic recovery periods. (Reporting by Caren Bohan and Jeff Mason; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

[expat_panama]

Meet the Joselin Elders of Economics. This may explain why the Clinton recession didn’t begin until after W took office.

[CindyDawg]

Didn’t we go into a recession a year ago, one year after we got us a democrat majority Senate and House.

[misterrob]

Once the housing market crashed a recession was not to be avoided due to the contamination of the financial system. Let's also not forget how much of the economy was credit driven as well.

On the other hand, Bush inherited a slumping economy that was damaged not only by the tech bubble crash but the 9/11 plot that was hatched under Clinton's watch. The activities of the Bush administration over the past years were an effort to stave off the pain from both impacts. Yes, CRA was a Clinton play but no one said Bush had to go along with waiving limits on leverage that allowed banks and other institutions to lend and borrow with no concern.

[expat_panama]

You’ve got as much right to that point of view as the ‘experts’ do. There’s no set methodology here, it’s all a judgement call...

[abb]

Good catch.

[CindyDawg]

Thanks. Mighty big of you.

[Don Corleone]

a professor at the University of California, Berkeley,

You know where this is going!

[erman]

=

[Travis T. OJustice]

Man, that guy is pretty female-ish looking for a man. Not surprising for an 0bama voter though.

[expat_panama]

Thanks. Mighty big of you.

LOL!!  It hadn't occurred to me how insulting being called an economic expert was...

[Neidermeyer]

Yes this is the Pelosi/Reid recession ,, predated by the Frank/Reid/Rangel FNM/FRE milking ... and the ascention to the heads of Wall Street firms by Clintoon buffoons..

[Mase]

This group gets to define what the definition of a recession is? Uh, ok. No, no politics involved here. I managed to survive Berkeley for only about a year. Profs. like this were a big reason (besides the fact that 9 of 10 girls in California are good looking and the other goes to Berkeley — and looks like Romer).

[expat_panama]

Bias in academic/governmental/intellectual circles.  OK, I know this is the planet earth and I can deal with it.  Something that bugs me is that the NBER cycle decrees have been taking on Sinai proportions (the Fed graphs always include them) and the increasingly blatant bias seems to matter to no one.

Except you, me and the people on this thread maybe --well, this one too: NBER's Anomalous Recession Calls, but that one must have been written by some freeper/lurker though... ;-).