Among the first announcements President Barack Obama will make upon returning from his Hawaiian vacation is his choice for top economic adviser – among the noted candidates is Yale President Richard Levin – a decision that could signal a new direction for the administration as it struggles to jumpstart the economy and wrestle down unemployment, according to the Associated Press.
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.
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 Levin from Yale? 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 reelection bid.
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said he expects Obama to make an announcement in early January, and blamed any delay on the frenzied legislative session that consumed the White House through the end of the year.
The initial view — both inside and outside the White House — was that Obama should name a business leader to the post, in an attempt to give the private sector a greater voice in the administration and ease the perception that the president is anti-business.
It’s that Wall Street connection that’s been a knock against one of the leading candidates for the job, Altman, founder of Evercore Partners. Altman does have government experience, though, having served as deputy treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton.
Sperling, another top contender, has also dabbled in Wall Street, advising Goldman Sachs and other financial firms, although he’s most well-known for his work in the Clinton and Obama administrations, including his current post as counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Sperling helped craft the 1993 Deficit Reduction Act, and his appointment could show Obama is serious about his pledge to address the mounting debt and deficit next year.
Levin, who as president of Yale shares Summers’ academic pedigree, is likely to favor stepped up Wall Street regulation. Furman is also said to be in the running for a promotion from the deputy’s job.
