At the moment the lead candidates to replace Larry Summers as NEC Director--big shoes to fill--appear to be Roger Altman and Gene Sperling. I think both of them would probably do very well. But there are other people who I think would also be very good. And the professional economist in me wants somebody who thinks more like an economist. I don't think the administration has enough economists in it's top ranks.
So let me throw out a few names of people who would, I think, be as good as Roger and Gene--and who also think more like economists:
- Lael Brainard
- Alan Blinder
- Larry Meyer
- Roger Ferguson
- Laura Tyson
- Jason Furman
And iI would add Farrell to the list of Altman and Sperling--those who would probably do very well at the job but who do not especially think like economists...
