Several months ago, I noted that a few countries had recently elected an economist as president, and solicited suggestions for which U.S. economist might make a good president.
Among the many suggestions (including Gary Becker, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell), one prominent name failed to appear: Jeffrey Sachs.
But that hasn’t discouraged a group of Sachs fans. The Sachs for President Draft Committee is “a grassroots movement aimed at convincing professor Jeffrey D. Sachs of Columbia University to run for president of the United States of America in 2008 … Our participants include a diverse range of people and views united by this common goal. We currently maintain no affiliation with Dr. Sachs, nor do we align ourselves with any political party or organization.”
In other presidential/economist news, the Washington Post reports today that outgoing Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has signed up Greg Mankiw and Glenn Hubbard as economics advisors for his presumptive campaign. (If you don’t remember Hubbard as the head of Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors, you may remember him from this swell video.)
And the new blog from The Economist is reporting that John McCain has brought on Doug Holtz-Eakin as his top economics advisor.
Meanwhile, in Estonia, President Bush yesterday lavished praise on the tiny nation for its democratic instincts, its embrace of technology, and especially its flat tax system. Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports in the N.Y. Times that the Estonian flat tax “was the brainchild of the former prime minister, Mart Laar. Mr. Laar was inspired by the only economics book he had ever read, Milton Friedman’s paean to capitalism, Free to Choose. Believing, erroneously, that the flat tax had been put into practice through the West, Mr. Laar introduced it to Estonia.”
All of this makes me wonder which of our many Presidential hopefuls may try to hire Steve Levitt as an economics advisor. Because we gravely downgraded the N.Y.C. “crime miracle” in Freakonomics, I am guessing it won’t be Rudy Giuliani.
20 Comments
I would rather see an Economist elected, or maybe a true businessman should run. Buffett, Sachs, Sowell, Williams. Levitt would make a good candidate as well.
Anyone who looks outside the box is a candidate I would support.
— wesleyb41hahaha, if Rudy Giuliani hired Levitt, that would be high comedy. i think the only times that high powered big ego person would ever hire someone smarter is… well, never. unless it’s like studio 60, and you look like amanda peet or something.
— TheQuitterThere are even more economist presidents than were listed in your previous post. Gloria Arroyo has a PhD (from U. Philippines), and Kenya’s Kwai Mibaki has an masters from LSE. The newly elected head of Ecuador did his PhD as Illinois. And, as you and commenters mentioned last time, the heads of Liberia, Benin and India all have solid economics credentials. This list isn’t exhaustive, but (a minimum of) 6 out of 200 isn’t such a bad record for the dismal science.
— kevincureSJD, I have to disagree with you on this. Economists (in the tradition I know them to be) are mostly academics. Messrs. Sachs, Becker, Williams, Sowell, and Levitt, while smart and intuitive men, have no real world experience in “leadership”.
When decisions need to be addressed about deploying troops or selling legilative ideas, I’m more comfortable with the traditional general/CEO type we’ve been electing.
— Brian BradyLevitt would definitely make a good candidate, he actually knows a thing or two about the country.
— jestcuriousSachs? His intellect may say president, but his hair says local news anchor.
— kassinka“I’m more comfortable with the traditional general/CEO type we’ve been electing.”
Yes, I concur. That worked so well the last two presidential elections.
— egretmanHats of to Romney in recruiting mankiw as his top economic advisor. Mankiw had published all of the scholarly articles and books that are used in basic econ classes that i have seen, a very intelligent man… what does he have as a professional background?
— Justn423An idea going around the internet recently is to elect Bill Gates. I don’t really care, for I’m not American, but the website Bill Gates For President has some good reasoning behing it: http://www.billgatesforpresident.net/why-bill/
— juliettelucieScott Adams also makes the case for him:http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2006/11/atheists_the_ne.html
My own theory is that neither Bill Gates nor an intelligent economist will ever get the job, because you’d have to be stupid to try to get a job where you don’t really get anything done and where every four year, a few million people less intelligent than you have the power to fire you.
Just sayin’…
Even sports federations are getting into the act, before the World Cup the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) elected Colombia economics professor, Sunil Gulati, as it’s President.
— toddwedwards“His intellect may say president, but his hair says local news anchor.”
Sounds like presidential material to me! ;)
— epersonaeWe need President Bartlet to be re-elected.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Bartlet
Oh… you mean TV presidents don’t count? :)
— steve24601I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Gene Fama for President in 2008.
— KentTouché, epersonae, touché.
— kassinkaI think Sachs’s experience with the UN would at least merit some consideration. Also, I’ve heard him speak twice, and I can say that he is fairly engaging. Although I disagree with a lot of his views, I suppose he isn’t a longshot as far as economists go.
— nandizzoWhat about a “Levitt for President Draft Committee”?
— unroyalPlease, Weird Al would be a better choice than any American economist. Milton ruined all of you.
— FreakazoidSachs should run for president of Russia, or maybe Peru. I’m sure they all remember him.
— Moloch-AgonistesAs a Peruvian, I would gladly vote for Sachs for President.
— trueenuffThe problem with an economist running for President is that too many Americans don’t know a thing about economics. Have you ever tried to have a rational discussion with someone who doesn’t understand the fundamentals? It’s one of the most frustrating things I run across. Most economists would go insane during the campaigning.
— Moldy