The Clinton Transition: Clinton's Economic Team May Please Many, But Gives Little Hint of His Future Plans

• Published in: Wall Street journal. Europe
• Main Author: By David Wessel and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brussels Dow Jones & Company Inc 10.12.1992
• Edition: Europe
• Subjects: American history; Budget deficits; Congressional committees; Economists; Federal budget; Political leadership; Political parties; Presidents; Securities markets; State elections; Tax increases
• ISSN: 0921-9986

In picking two seasoned, middle-of-the-road congressional Democrats and an investment banker with strong ties to Democrats for the top three economic slots, Mr. Clinton is emphasizing above all that he wants to get his economic program through Congress, while also avoiding any backlash in the financial markets. In supporting roles, Laura Tyson, 45, an economist at the University of California at Berkeley, is to chair the Council of Economic Advisers, the first woman to hold that job, Clinton aides said. Alice Rivlin, 61, the first director of the Congressional Budget Office and now an economist at the Brookings Institution and George Mason University, is to be Mr. Panetta's deputy at the budget office. And Roger Altman, 46, a Clinton college friend and a Treasury veteran now at Blackstone Group, an investment bank, is to be Mr. Bentsen's deputy. What is most striking is that Mr. Clinton, the apostle of "change," not only gave congressional Democrats what amounted to a veto over his economic appointees but chose veteran members of Congress for both the Treasury and the budget office. David Hale, chief economist at Kemper Financial Cos., calls it "a de facto parliamentary government." The unanswered question is which end of Pennsylvania Avenue will get the upper hand. Will Mr. Clinton succeed in pressing his agenda through Congress? Or will congressional leaders use the president's strong desire for harmony to get him to accept their agenda?