Word: economists
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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While Volcker fished, Baker, along with Secretary of State George Shultz (himself an international economist) and Treasury Secretary Baker pondered alternatives. Greenspan's name topped their list. Second came Deputy Secretary of State John Whitehead, 65, a well-known expert on international monetary matters; before joining the State Department he was a highly successful investment banker at the Manhattan-based firm of Goldman Sachs. Third on the list was Beryl Sprinkel, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Shultz and James Baker discreetly sounded out the two top choices about their availability...
Informing the economist of the decision took a little longer. When tracked down by the White House switchboard, Greenspan was in his Manhattan doctor's office and unreachable for 20 minutes. Commented Reagan, who has seen all too many physicians during his two terms: "There's no telling what they're doing to that man." Eventually Greenspan emerged. Would he accept the job? The immediate answer...
...battered dollar would go "significantly lower." At last week's press conference announcing his appointment, however, he noted cautiously that there was "evidence" that the dollar's fall had bottomed out. Observed Japanese Central Banker Ohta: "Mr. Greenspan made his remark about ((the falling dollar)) when he was an economist, not when he was chairman-designate. So we do not have any concern about it." In his new vein of bankerly circumspection, Greenspan also declared that the "economy, at the moment, looks reasonably strong and hopefully will continue so for the indefinite future...
...immediate future, Greenspan is likely to follow Volcker's anti- inflation policies. Says Harry Kalberman, a broker at Merrill Lynch and a close Greenspan friend: "People who think he will allow inflation to come back are fooling themselves." Agrees Jerry Jasinowski, chief economist of the National Association of Manufacturers: "Philosophically, he may feel more strongly about reducing inflation than Volcker...
FOOTNOTE: *The other governors: Kansas Banker Wayne Angell, 59; California Economist H. Robert Heller, 47; Manuel Johnson, 38, a former U.S. Treasury official; Houston Businessman Edward Kelley, 55; Martha Seger, 50, a former Michigan bank regulator. One board seat is currently vacant...