Krueger to CEA, So What?

I've been a little busy cleaning 1000 gallons of sewerage out of my basement, so I've not gotten a chance to comment on anything. When I heard that the Lightworker appointed Alan Krueger to be the new head of the Council of Economic Advisors, I had two reactions: 1) Oh, you mean the guy who found that demand curves slope upward, and 2) pretty much no matter who it is, Greg Mankiw will say it was a great choice.

Score and score.

Other bloggers have been combing through Krueger's scholarly work to amass hints and clues as to what Obama's future economic policy initiatives might look like. This is dumb and a useless exercise. Obama's economic policy initiatives will be standard progressive, big government, interventionist initiatives, Krueger notwithstanding. Why would anybody assume that Krueger will be any different from Christy Romer whose scholarly writing would have led one to believe that she would not have advocated a massive "stimulus" consisting of transfer payments and infrastructure spending? The head of the CEA may advise the President, but then he/she must turn around and sell/provide gloss to whatever policy the President decides to pursue. CEA heads do this because it is a plum job that is golden on one's resume and promises membership rewards in elite circles for the rest of one's life.