Jason Furman

Others like Mankiw and MR are saying good things about Jason Furman, Obama's new economic adviser. Did Furman replace Austen Goolsbee? Or is this a different position altogether? Anyway, I'm hearing good things about him. But this quote kind of made me laugh.

"Although Furman has directed think-tank work on some controversial topics, Bernstein said he would be an effective campaign staff member. "If you look at his body of work, it's quite clear that the ultimate goal is very much the same as Obama's," he said."

I wonder what this reporter considers "controversial." Everything I'm reading is that Furman isn't at all controversial. I suspect he's controversial to the extreme left-wing of the Democratic party, which hardly seems like the right reference group for evaluating the writings of an accomplished economist.