Romer, An Expert on Depression Era

Boston Globe:

In tapping academic economist Christina D. Romer to lead his Council of Economic Advisers, President-elect Barack Obama has turned to one of the preeminent scholars of the Great Depression, who colleagues say is likely to push for aggressive government intervention to ease the economic crisis...

"Christina has done ground-breaking research on many of the topics our administration will confront, from tax policy to fighting recessions," Obama said. "And her clear-eyed, independent analyses have received praise from both conservative and liberal thinkers alike."

Indeed, colleagues say that Romer, despite liberal-leaning economic views, is not doctrinaire, and that she has shown flexibility in thinking and a willingness to follow data wherever they lead. In a Bloomberg column this fall, Kevin A. Hassett, an economic specialist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and a former adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain, listed Romer as one of a few economists he wished were leading the country's economic policy.