Kudos to Ed Lazear for Being Willing to Sit in the CEA Hot Seat

Congratulations to Ed Lazear for taking on this burden of public service. It won't be easy. He should do a good job. We wish him well:

Bloomberg Printer-Friendly Page : Bush to Nominate Stanford's Lazear to Head CEA, Spokesman Says Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush will nominate Stanford University economist Edward Lazear to be chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. Lazear, 57, a member of Bush's tax advisory panel last year, would succeed Ben Bernanke at the helm of the CEA. Bernanke was nominated to be Federal Reserve chairman, replacing Alan Greenspan. Unlike Bernanke, who is known as a macroeconomist and a monetary theorist, Lazear has specialized in microeconomic labor issues, worker compensation and productivity.

The CEA chairman will be one of the chief salesmen for Bush's economic agenda, which in 2006 will include an effort to urge Congress to make tax cuts permanent. Bush also is urging Congress to cut spending to reduce the budget deficit and seeking to allay concerns of U.S. workers as the nation competes in the global economy.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brendan Murray in Washington at brmurray@bloomberg.net