WH Adviser: Expect High Jobless Rate for Future
The Washington Post reports:
New chief White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee said Sunday that unemployment is likely to stay high for the foreseeable future. "I don't anticipate it coming down rapidly," he said during an appearance on ABC's "This Week."
Goolsbee, who on Friday was named the new head of the Obama Administration's Council of Economic Advisers, also said he disagrees with former Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag's suggestion that Democrats extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy for two years and then get rid of all of them. He noted that Orszag was making a political argument, rather than an economic one, but that he doesn't agree with the political advantage of such an approach, either. "I don't think that, politically, is correct," Goolsbee said.
During an earlier appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Goolsebee said when Vice President Joe Biden coined the term "Summer of Recovery", he was referring to the projects that would be created this summer, rather than the actual progress gained.
"The vice president was talking about the Summer of Recovery in reference to the recovery act, that you would see the creation of a series of infrastructure and other projects ramping up over the summer, and you did see that," Goolsbee said on Fox News Sunday.
Republicans have repeatedly tried to use the phrase against Democrats, pointing to the continued job losses and weak economic growth. Democrats have acknowledged there is much work to be done, but point to gains in private-sector jobs and other indicators.
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