In response to Krugman calling those which advised the Bush administration as hacks and those appointed to fill up the vacancies in the Obama administration as grown-ups…
Seriously, isn’t it amazing just how impressive the people being named to key positions in the Obama administration seem? Bye-bye hacks and cronies, hello people who actually know what they’re doing. For a bunch of people who were written off as a permanent minority four years ago, the Democrats look remarkably like the natural governing party these days, with a deep bench of talent. [The grownups are coming. The Conscience of a Liberal. November 22 2008]
…Mankiw replies with a hint of rising temperature:
Like Paul, I am impressed by the new economic team. I know best the three economists coming from academia–Larry Summers, Christy Romer, and Austan Goolsbee–and they are all first-rate. They are excellent choices.
But are they really in a different class than those in the previous administration? Based a standard ranking of economists’ academic accomplishments as of October 2008, here is where these three stand (out of more than 18,000 economists), together with the rankings of all the CEA chairmen appointed by President Bush:
11. Larry Summers
21. Greg Mankiw
35. Ben Bernanke
99. Eddie Lazear
132. Glenn Hubbard
249. Harvey Rosen
391. Christy Romer
653. Austan GoolsbeeJudging by this objective criterion, it looks like the two adminstrations are drawing economists from roughly the same talent pool.
Of course, if one defines “grownup” as a person who agrees with Paul Krugman, and “hack” as a person who does not, then one might come to a different conclusion. [Redefining “grownup” and “hack”. Greg Mankiw’s blog. November 27 2008
After reading Professor Mankiw’s post, the press seems to have hyped-up Obama’s economic team. The team comprises of great economists but c’mon. There has always been good and great economists in many different administrations, as shown by Mankiw.
