Top White House Economist Goolsbee Steps Down

Top White House economist Austan Goolsbee said on Monday he was stepping down, marking the exit of one of President Barack Obama's closest aides at a time when new signs of weakness have emerged in the U.S. economy.

AP

Less than a year after he was named chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Goolsbee plans to return to his teaching job at the University of Chicago, the Obama administration said in a statement.

Goolsbee's departure leaves Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as the sole remaining senior member of the original economic team.

Goolsbee and Obama got to know each other at the University of Chicago, where the president had been a lecturer in constitutional law. Goolsbee advised Obama's campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and his 2008 presidential campaign.

Goolsbee has been one of the administration's more visible spokesmen on the economy and lately has emphasized his view that the recovery remains solidly on track, despite a report on Friday showing tepid jobs growth and a rise in the unemployment rate in May to 9.1 percent from 9 percent in April.

"He has helped steer our country out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and although there is still much work ahead, his insights and counsel have helped lead us toward an economy that is growing and creating millions of jobs," Obama said in a statement.

In addition to the jobs report, other data including reports on housing and manufacturing have suggested the recovery was losing momentum.

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At the beginning of this year, Goolsbee warned that a failure by the U.S. Congress to raise the nation's borrowing limit could be "catastrophic" for the economy, a line the White House has repeated in the months since then as it negotiates with Republicans over legislation to lift the debt ceiling.

Prior to being promoted to CEA chairman last September, Goolsbee served as one of the three members of the Council of Economic Advisers, whose main function is to provide economic forecasts for the president.

He also was a staff economist to the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, an outside panel of economic advisers led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

Larry Summers, former director of the White House National Economic Council, stepped down at the end of last year to return to his teaching job at Harvard University.

Christina Romer, his predecessor as CEA chair, left last August, also to return to academia, and Peter Orszag resigned as White House budget director last July.

From Chicago, where he will teach at the Graduate School of Business, Goolsbee will also serve as an outside adviser to Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, according to an administration official.