Council of Economic Advisers - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Council of Economic Advisers Index / Organizations Transcripts Roberta Jacobson ...in the administration, whether at the Council of Economic Advisors in the NSC, at Treasury, etc. who wer... Mark Lippert ...It was the Treasury secretary and the Council of Economic Advisers and Mike Froman's job as the interco... Wally Adeyemo ...about throughout her career at the CEA [Council of Economic Advisors] and th... ...throughout her career at the CEA [ Council of Economic Advisors ] and the Federal Reserve. I think i... Michael Froman ...is you were also dual hatted, on the Council of Economic Advisers as well— Not the Council of Economi... ...of Economic Advisers as well— Not the Council of Economic Advisers , but the National Economi... Jason Furman ...to the president, and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers [CEA] in the Obama administration. Thi... ...of the Council of Economic Advisers [ CEA ] in the Obama administration. This i... ...E.] Stiglitz, who was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers , called me, and he called to ask i... ...if I'd be interested in coming to the Council of Economic Advisers . I hadn't applied for the job, ... ...in the White House, to be part of the Council of Economic Advisers . Joe Stiglitz sounded filled wit... ...bit about the difference between the Council of Economic Advisers and the National Economic Council? ... ...Economic Council? Yes. So the Council of Economic Advisers was established by statute in 1946. I... ...by PhD economists. And the role of the Council of Economic Advisers —I like to think of it as almost lik... ...a lot of different economic views, the Council of Economic Advisers might have one, the [Department of... ...their views to the table. Whereas the Council of Economic Advisers has the liberty of, Here's what w... ...for somebody to serve on both the Council of Economic Advisers and the National Economic Council? ... ...unusual. Laura [D.] Tyson went from CEA chair to being director of the Nationa... ...and what you did there? Sure. At the Council of Economic Advisers , I was working for Joe Stiglitz, wh... ...Care Act. Christy Romer, who was the CEA chair and was a huge fan of th... ...years later, we put out analysis at the Council of Economic Advisers that showed that you did not see an... ...the president, and as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers [CEA] in the Obama administration. Thi... ...of the Council of Economic Advisers [ CEA ] in the Obama administration. This i... ...and both of them were chairs of the Council of Economic Advisers under President [Ronald W.] Reagan an... ...session we talk about my role at the Council of Economic Advisers , we could take about land us... ...up when we talk about my work at the Council of Economic Advisers , which is where I really raised th... ...better understand, when I was chair of CEA what was going on with small banks... ...you learn you were going to go to the Council of Economic Advisers ? It was relatively soon after th... ...in government, it's an institution, the Council of Economic Advisers I have huge respect for and huge lov... ...the president, and as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers [CEA] in the Obama administration. Thi... ...of the Council of Economic Advisers [ CEA ] in the Obama administration. This i... ...to you to serve as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers . Why do you think President Obam... ...nominated you to become chair of CEA , both within the [United States... ...[Gregory] Mankiw, who was chair of the Council of Economic Advisers for President [George W.] Bush. I spok... ...is it to the institution of the CEA to have a chair and also membershi... ...I think in many ways, the Bush CEA and the Obama CEA, on many issues, ha... ...many ways, the Bush CEA and the Obama CEA , on many issues, had more in commo... ...had more in common than the Bush CEA did with the Bush [United States... ...Commerce Department, or the Obama CEA with the Obama Commerce Department. I'... ...of topics like trade, where the CEA was free trade in the Bus... ...to win,” sort of a way. And I think CEA has, most of the time, been pretty goo... ...Alan [B.] Krueger, who was chair of CEA before you. Were there particular way... ...ways that Professor Krueger had shaped CEA ? He focused on especially issue... ...he shaped it. In terms of the way that CEA operates on a daily basis compared t... ...do international economic issues at CEA . Those were added to my portfolio... ...Those were added to my portfolio. At CEA , I was added to the senior advisers... ...beginning and end of my schedule. At CEA , I was going to all the sam... ...some of them again when I got to CEA . That's so interesting. You began i... ...You began in your role as chair of CEA in August of 2013. Just a few month... ...about the budget negotiations or what CEA does? It was more about what CE... ...what CEA does? It was more about what CEA does. And to me, it was important tha... ...for a while. Was it unusual for a CEA chair to lobby for a veto threat? ... ...way in which you went out about that CEA ? Yes, on this topic it did. On a lo... ...political reasons. And did CEA play a role in trying to produc... ...of them was my chief economist at the Council of Economic Advisers , who I was working closely with o... ...I was working closely with on that. So, CEA was very critical as an organization... ...linked with the work we had done at the Council of Economic Advisers on promoting competition, which I'... ...I continued to speak about that as CEA chair, do analysis about it, et cetera... ...comes out, is the president asking from CEA for an analysis of what a public optio... ...to the existing legislation? Or is CEA finding in its analysis somethin... ...among your responsibilities as chair of CEA is to sort of anticipate what th... ...goals when you arrived as chair at the Council of Economic Advisers . What did you want to accomplish? An... ...be the administration's policies. At CEA , you're definitely part of that too... ...was quite important to me. But CEA also gives you this platform—you're th... ...into that part of it. And had I been CEA chair in 2013, I don't think I woul... ...part of the effort you made to make the CEA public facing in terms of getting idea... ...it to me when I was a staffer at the Council of Economic Advisers in the 1990s. But we did research. Th... ...of mine. I had worked for him at the Council of Economic Advisers . He taught me both the important—abou... ...that work further with a report at the Council of Economic Advisers , with another speech I gave to a... ...might be. Was it unusual for the CEA to counter forecasts or predictions o... ...to ask you more about the way in which CEA thinks about differen... ...from New York City. So, there is—this CEA , [Donald J.] Trump's CEA, in the firs... ...there is—this CEA, [Donald J.] Trump's CEA , in the first two years actually di... ...Clean Power Plan, and the way in which CEA saw short-term tradeoffs in terms o... ...which you shaped the role of chair at CEA . You mentioned, and I certainly read ... ...or outside of it, to the chair of CEA having a more public role than previou... ...process to confirm you as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers , you said that your father ha... ...very first time in the 1990s, to the Council of Economic Advisers . [The year] 2008, I was of the view ... Show more... Christina Romer ...Professor Romer served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers [CEA] in the Obama administration. I... ...of the Council of Economic Advisers [ CEA ] in the Obama administration. In thi... ...possibility of serving as chair of the Council of Economic Advisors ? No. I think about ten days afte... ...idea.” At which point, when he said CEA chair, my stomach fell to the floor. I... ...parts of the job of serving as chair of CEA . Did you consult with you... ...of all the jobs she'd had, she'd found CEA chair one of the most difficult an... ...the outpouring of advice from other CEA chairs was really amazing. And it wa... ...this is something that's special about CEA . Someone said you could replace th... ...CEA. Someone said you could replace the CEA with a stamp that says No. Our job i... ...And that's a little bit—the role of the CEA is to be unbiased, fact-checkin... ...addition to being particular to CEA , do you also think it's particular t... ...I think that probably is why the CEA chair often has this job, is becaus... ...jobs to the government. And a typical CEA chair really does only stay about tw... ...truth. And the people who set up the CEA , I think, were brilliant to say... ...forecasters, when you're the incoming CEA chair, are willing to run their model... ...talked to [Edward] Lazear, who was the CEA chair, and he was very happy to tell m... ...he was very happy to tell me what the CEA was thinking. So I was very impresse... ...Well, through the whole time as CEA chair, yes. A lot. I did a lot o... ...system. Are there staff members at CEA who are specifically designated to d... ...to do forecasts? Yes. So, again, CEA doesn't—we're a small shop, right? An... ...he is that good. But he sticks with the CEA , and has taught me so much about dat... ...uses other people's forecasts. The CEA has to do a forecast for the budget... ...about that report, and something that CEA did a lot of, is put out our analysis... ...one of my great experiences as CEA chair was a group of people—they wer... ...president. Did that idea come from the CEA or from the president himself? Do yo... ...I can remember calling someone at the CEA , literally from the Capitol, saying... ...huge. And I think one of the roles that CEA played—especially Austan did a lot o... ...the president ended up being right. CEA was a little on the side of, maybe w... ...is a tradition in Washington is, the CEA has lunch with the Fed governors once ... ...on the economy. So does the shop at CEA then go into motion to try to creat... ...growth, to standards of living. And so, CEA was just playing a really valuable rol... ...working with my health economist on the CEA —and then I got another healt... ...healthcare reform. And do members call CEA ? Are there open lines of communicatio... ...the pieces of the Recovery Act was, the CEA had to write a report every quarter o... ...of us. Jesse Rothstein, who was on the CEA staff, Alan Krueger, who was over a... ...Not really, in the sense—I mean, again, CEA is such a funny organization. We hav... ...You've talked a little bit about how CEA is unusual, in the sense that academic... ...rotate fairly quickly in and out of CEA . You'd said at the beginning of you... ...less so. One of the main jobs of the CEA chair is, in fact, to get your peopl... Show more... Janet Yellen ...was also the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors from 1997 until 1999. In thi... ...years. But certainly, when I was at the Council of Economic Advisors and I had a term as a governor of th... ...Christina [D.] Romer, was heading the Council of Economic Advisors at the time. There was a person wh... Peter Orszag ...a couple years later when he was at the Council of Economic Advisers . I didn't really answer the boo... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Democrats Democrats go to the Russia Russia go to the Agriculture Agriculture go to the Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa go to the Labor Labor