TOUGH JOB

Obama Taps New Economic Adviser

Princeton economist Alan Krueger replaces Goolsbee.

President Obama has appointed Alan Krueger as his new top economic adviser. The announcement came in a Rose Garden ceremony Monday morning, making the Princeton economist the third adviser in Obama's four-year term. Austan Goolsbee, Obama’s close friend and an economics professor, held the job prior, and Christina Romer before him. However, both returned to their universities after a year of trying to move a stubborn economy. Krueger was appointed as assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy when Obama took office in 2009, but has a much tougher job ahead of him: avoiding a double-dip recession and putting more Americans back to work with a Republican House that has promised to block any government spending. In an editorial for Bloomberg News, Krueger stated he was convinced the unemployment rate would head downward. Hope he's right.