Saturday, August 7, 2010

Romer vs. Summers

She also was reported to have butted heads with other members of Obama’s economic team, in particular Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council. In December, the she sand Summers even seemed to contradict each other — in interviews conducted on the same day — on whether the recession had ended.

“Everybody agrees that the recession is over,” Summers said.
“Of course not,” Romer said in a separate interview.

The clash appeared at the time to speak not just to the differing views on the economy within Obama’s inner circle but also to the sharply conflicting signals out of the economy itself, which continues to struggle to rebound.
I think that shows she's got more human, and better, instincts than Summers. When unemployment has been above 9.5% for over a year and the economy is shedding jobs, you cannot try to pretend like everything is OK when you are in office. It makes you look out of touch. In Summers case, of course, he is out of touch. So it's not just framing...

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