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US President Barack Obama nominated Alan Krueger, a Princeton University expert on unemployment, as his top economic adviser as he plots
an urgent new offensive on the jobs crisis.Obama described Krueger as one of Americas top economists who understood the challenges that country faces, with a recovery that has been too tepid to to make significant cuts in an unemployment rate of 9.1 per cent.Krueger, if confirmed by the Senate, will serve as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and succeed long-time Obama confidante Austan Goolsbee who left the administration to return to academia in Chicago.Next week, the president will lay out a new plan to create jobs and slice into the deficit, projected to hit $US1.6 trillion ($1.52 trillion) this year, which is certain to ignite a new political firestorm with Republicans.Our great economic challenge as a nation remains how to get this economy growing, Obama said as he appeared with Krueger in the White House Rose Garden.The US president promised steps that Congress can take immediately to put more money in the pockets of working class families and middle class families and to make it easier for small businesses to hire people.Thats our urgent mission, and thats what Im fighting for every single day, he said.My hope and expectation is we can put country before party and get something done for the American people. Thats what I will be fighting for.Republicans in the House of Representatives, however, have already signalled that they oppose some of Obamas likely policy prescriptions and say the best way to stimulate growth would be to loosen government control over the economy.The White House says that Obama is interested in finding deficit cuts that go beyond the current $US1.5 trillion ($1.42 trillion) mandate of a congressional super committee set up to recommend multi-year spending reductions.Tax for wealthy likelyBut Obama is also seen as likely to call for a rise in taxes on the wealthiest Americans, spending on jobcreating infrastructure and money for other jobs programs which Republicans have pledged to block.The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the appointment, said Krueger would likely prove to be an advocate for more concerted action by the government to tackle high unemployment.He served as assistant treasury secretary for economic policy during Obamas first two years in the White House and has also served as chief economist for the Treasury and the US Department of Labor.Krueger also wrote a well reviewed book What Makes a Terrorist? which examined the societal, economic and political conditions that breed terrorism and their psychological and economic consequences.Republicans, however, mined Kruegers long list of published articles and comments to argue he was wedded to increasing taxes, more environmental regulation and had incorrectly predicted the extent of the jobs crisis.The CEA is a three-member body that interprets prevailing economic conditions and provides policy recommendations to the president.Its most high profile role in recent months has been to comment on monthly jobless figures which have shown that new positions are not being created quickly enough in a slowing recovery to bring down unemployment significantly. AFP Recission-US President Barack Obama acknowledged in a television broadcast Thursday that many Americans were still feeling the pain of a slow economic recovery, but insisted his policies were working.People still arent feeling (the recovery). Now, part of that is the fact that the unemployment rate is still high, Obama said in a town hall meeting on CBS News that was recorded on Wednesday.Weve got a lot more work to do to get businesses to invest and to hire, Obama said on the show, which was dedicated to the economy and recorded in Washington.I think a lot of folks are still anxious about the fact that even if they have a job, even if theyre working really hard that their wages havent gone up, their incomes havent gone up, but the costs of everything from gas to groceries to health care to a college education, those have all gone up.The economy is looming as the biggest issue in Obamas reelection campaign ahead of elections in November 2012, especially since his approval ratings on national security improved after the killing of Osama bin Laden.Its so important for us to focus not only on recovery from recession, but also dealing with some of those problems that existed before the recession so that middle class families are able to see their incomes go up, their savings go up, they can retire with dignity and respect, he said.Obama argued that some areas of the economy, like manufacturing, were improving and that his policies were creating jobs, but that situation was dire when he took office in January 2009.Part of whats happened is that the recoverys uneven. So, certain sectors of the country are doing better than others, Obama said.Some of the changes that are taking place in the economy are ones that took a decade or two to get to.It is going to take us several years for us to get back to where we need to be.But the important thing is were moving in the right direction. The fact that the economy is growing is a good thing. The fact that companies are making a profit is a good thing. Copyright 2011 AFP

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US President Barack Obama nominated Alan Krueger, a Princeton University expert on unemployment, as his top economic adviser as he plots

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