Economics Experts Join Romney’s PAC
http://www.washingtonpost…6112801364.html
I have an appointment, but I’ll comment on this later.
By Dan Balz and Zachary A. Goldfarb
Wednesday, November 29, 2006; Page A10He hasn’t even formed his presidential exploratory committee, but Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has already signed up an economic brain trust to advise him, led by two former chairmen of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers.
R. Glenn Hubbard, dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and N. Gregory Mankiw, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, have agreed to join Romney’s political action committee, committee spokesman Jared Young said yesterday. Hubbard and Mankiw will play key roles in the governor’s presidential campaign if he decides to run — a decision that is widely presumed.
A third member of Romney’s new economic team is Cesar Conda, who previously served as domestic policy adviser to Vice President Cheney.
Hubbard chaired Bush’s economic council from 2001 to 2003 and was succeeded by Mankiw, who served until 2005. Mankiw stirred up a controversy for the president in 2004 when he said the outsourcing of jobs was “probably a plus” for the U.S. economy in the long run. Many economists agreed with that view, but the comment revealed Mankiw’s lack of political instincts.
Hubbard said he was attracted to Romney as someone who believes in modest government and who tries to use government to solve problems in a businesslike way. “Given the problems we have, having somebody with a strong business background and a good worldview on the economy is a good thing,” he said.
Romney also announced this week that he has recruited Warren Tompkins, a veteran South Carolina Republican strategist who was a regional co-chairman of Bush’s reelection team, as an adviser for the Southeast.
Ann Marie
