President Obama is set to nominate Princeton University's Alan Krueger to be chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers today. Krueger, who provided analysis on the "cash for clunkers" program to Obama during an earlier stint as assistant Treasury secretary, will replace departing chair Austan Goolsbee.
In addition to supporting the destruction of over half-a-million perfectly functioning automobiles, Krueger has also advocated the creation of a 5% national sales tax. In January 2009, he wrote: "In the long run, a 5 percent consumption tax would raise approximately $500 billion a year, and fill a considerable hole in the budget outlook."
Krueger is also the author of a highly controversial study purporting to show that the minimum-wage does not decrease unemployment. You can read Harvard Professor Greg Mankiw's round-up of studies refuting Krueger's academic work, here.
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