Holtz-Eakin to the CFR

From David Rosenbaum of the New York Times, (by way of Brad DeLong), we learn that Douglas Holtz-Eakin will leave his position as Director of the CBO to join the Council on Foreign Relations. From the CFR's press release:

November 14, 2005—Council President Richard N. Haass has named Douglas Holtz-Eakin, current director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the new director of the Council’s Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies (GEC), and the Paul A. Volcker Chair in International Economics. Founded in 2000, the GEC works to promote a better understanding among policymakers, academic specialists, and the interested public of how economic and political forces interact to influence world affairs.

“We are thrilled to have an individual of Douglas Holtz-Eakin’s stature and experience join the Council,” said Haass. “He is the ultimate scholar-practitioner, someone able to advance thinking about the connections between economic and strategic developments and to make sure that the fruits of such thinking reach policymakers, business leaders, and others with a need to understand how the world really works.”

Holtz-Eakin is known for his longstanding and broad interest in the economics of public policy. He previously served as chief economist for the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, where he also served as senior staff economist in 1989 and 1990. He was trustee professor of economics at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University, where he has served as chairman of the Department of Economics and associate director of the Center for Policy Research. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Holtz-Eakin. “I look forward to the chance to continue my nonpartisan, high-caliber work in an organization that is not only national but has a global reach.”

Congratulations to Doug. I had been hoping that he would be offered the position of CEA Chairman, to succeed Ben Bernanke when Ben takes over at the Fed. Doug would have brought some outside credibility on budget policy along with a familiar face from the early part of the Administration to a White House that is very much in need of both.

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