El economista de Princeton nombrado para encabezar el Consejo de Asesores Económicos

La Casa Blanca revueltos lunes a ultimar una nueva iniciativa de empleos como el presidente Obama nominó el último miembro del equipo económico que se encarga de llevarlo a cabo.

En tocando Alan Krueger, un profesor de la Universidad de Princeton y experto en trabajo señalado, siendo presidente del Consejo de Asesores Económicos, Obama se dirigió a un economista que dijeron las autoridades fue muy adecuado para guiar la Casa Blanca a través de una crisis del empleo.

Obama, de pie con Krueger en el Rose Garden el lunes, dijo que la intención de revelar la agenda de nuevos puestos de trabajo muy esperado en un discurso la semana que viene.

Esa dirección, llegando al final de un verano de empeoramiento de las noticias económicas y la flacidez en las encuestas para el presidente, is shaping up as a pivotal moment as Obama tries to resuscitate his presidency with less than 15 months before he stands for reelection.

Y sin embargo,, behind the scenes Obama and top aides had yet to reach agreement on the major tenets of that plan, and it remained unclear whether the president was looking for narrower ideas with a realistic chance of passing the Republican-led House or more sweeping stimulus proposals that would excite his liberal base and draw contrasts with the GOP.

“Everyone’s trying to read the tea leaves to see what the president is going to put forward,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

Obama offered few hints Monday.

"Voy a estar recostada a cabo una serie de pasos que el Congreso puede tomar de inmediato para poner más dinero en los bolsillos de las familias trabajadoras y las familias de clase media, para que sea más fácil para las pequeñas empresas a contratar personas, para poner los equipos de construcción para trabajar reconstrucción de caminos y ferrocarriles de la nación y aeropuertos, y todas las otras medidas que pueden ayudar a crecer esta economía,", Dijo.

Obama dijo que el plan consistiría en "las ideas de ambos partidos que debe ser el tipo de propuestas que todo el mundo puede conseguir detrás, no importa cuál sea su afiliación política. "

De acuerdo con funcionarios del gobierno y otras personas familiarizadas con el asunto, Obama está considerando una reducción de impuestos que recompense directamente a las empresas para la contratación de nuevos trabajadores, new spending for environmentally friendly construction and for rehabilitating schools, and clean-energy tax cuts.

He is also developing programs to target long-term unemployment, potentially including a version of a Georgia unemployment insurance program that pays employers to hire workers who have been unemployed and provides funding for training.

Al mismo tiempo, Obama may announce new programs to lift the housing market, such as a refinancing initiative that could pump tens of billions of dollars into the economy.

Obama also is likely to renew calls for renewing — and potentially expanding — ongoing efforts, such as a two-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax.

It was not clear Monday whether Obama intended his plan to be enacted as separate legislation or serve as recommendations to be taken up by a new, bipartisan committee of lawmakers that was set up this summer to map out a strategy for reducing the federal deficit.

The challenge for Obama is winning passage for anything that looks like additional government spending. House Republicans, who say the administration’s 2009 economic stimulus program was a failure, have vowed to block measures that add to the national debt.

“If it’s crafted correctly and fought for, it could clear a pretty high political bar,” said Jared Bernstein, former economics adviser to Vice President Biden.

The renewed focus on jobs reflects a shift for Obama and his economic team, que han dedicado gran parte de su atención en el último año para el debate sobre cómo reducir el déficit presupuestario. Ese objetivo fue empujado a la vanguardia de los republicanos del Tea Party que prevalecieron en las elecciones al Congreso de mitad de mandato en noviembre. Algunos asesores de la Casa Blanca indicó que Obama, abrazando la reducción del déficit, podría ganarse el favor de los votantes independientes que necesita para ganar la reelección.

Pero como Obama negoció una parte de reducción del déficit del debate techo de la deuda de este verano, encuestas mostraron una dramática caída en la aprobación de su desempeño en el trabajo de los votantes. La caída comenzó en julio como negociaciones de la deuda calientan, y las encuestas recientes muestran que su índice de aprobación en los años 40 bajos.

Mientras tanto, una serie de señales económicas mixtas - incluidas las pérdidas y las ganancias impresionantes en el mercado de valores en las últimas semanas - han dejado a muchos estadounidenses sin resolver. La montaña rusa continuó el lunes como un repentino estallido de optimismo sobre la economía global enviado de EE.UU.. stocks marcadamente más altos.

Las encuestas muestran que los estadounidenses a estar más preocupados por los empleos. Varios economistas y las autoridades dijeron el lunes que Krueger, si se confirma, podría ayudar en esa área.

"Es claro para todos en el planeta que no va a ser otro $787 paquete de mil millones de estímulo,"Dijo Alan Blinder, un compañero economista de Princeton. "Vas a tener que diseñar algo micro dirigidos y mucho menos costoso en los dólares presupuestarias. These are the kinds of things that labor economists, and Alan Krueger in particular, have a lot of insight on.”

Krueger has done leading research on why a minimum wage does not increase joblessness and why job growth can lag during otherwise prosperous economic time. He served as chief economist in the Treasury Department from March 2009 until November 2010 but returned to Princeton, where he’s been a professor since 1987, in order to preserve his tenure.

During his time at Treasury, Krueger advocates a number of key administration measures designed to stimulate the economy, including a tax cut for businesses that hire new workers, the “cash for clunkers” auto trade-in program, and “Build America Bonds” that allowed states and localities to raise funds for building roads and other construction projects.

Outside of labor economics, he has researched an eclectic range of subjects, including music and terrorism. In one study, he found that many terrorists hailed from middle class backgrounds, not the impoverished conditions many assumed.

Krueger replaces Austan Goolsbee, who had been a confidant of Obama since his 2004 Senate run and had served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers since last fall. Goolsbee was successor to Christina Romer, a macroeconomist who was an advocate for aggressive new federal spending to fuel the economic recovery.

Unlike Romer, who grew frustrated with the administration’s unwillingness to pursue major new jobs initiatives, Krueger is unlikely to be a voice of dissent.

Krueger is a center-left economist in the mold of many top economic policymakers in the Obama administration, including Goolsbee and Harvard economist Lawrence Summers, the Harvard economist who resigned as director of the National Economic Council at the start of the year.

N. Gregory Mankiw, the Harvard economist who led President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, said Krueger was unlikely to push the White House in any new directions.

“He’s a very smart guy, and it’s always good when smart guys get important jobs,” Mankiw said. “But he has been a part of the administration, so it’s not a signal that they’re going to change things. It’s a signal of continuity, if anything.”

Obama’s nomination of Krueger would largely reconstitute the economic policy team inside the Treasury Department during the first two years of the administration. At the time, Krueger served as Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner’s top economic adviser. His work overlapped with that of Gene Sperling, who was a top adviser on budget and tax issues. Should Krueger be confirmed by the Senate, he will rejoin Sperling at the White House, where he is director of the National Economic Council.

Krueger was previously confirmed by the Senate and, as a result, may have an easier time being confirmed for his new job.

Fuente: Washington Post