Actually there were three chapters dropped, according to my spies. I don't know what the other two were on.
-----Original Message----- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Paul Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 9:16 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PEN-L] harvey rosen Michael P. writes: >I just looked up about Mankiw's replacement. I have never read any of his >articles. >They don't seem that interesting. Am I missing something? Its the REPORT that seems to be missing something. (see below) [Seriously, this must have hurt. Not entirely candid comments from the Democrats either: one hears Stiglitz was stifled quite a bit more than that. Surprised we haven't heard more of the 'insider' retrospectives from the Dems (Stiglitz's own memoir was almost mum).] >Dropping Report's Iraq Chapter Was Unusual, Economists Say >Concern About Impact on White House's Credibility Cited > >By Jonathan Weisman >Washington Post Staff Writer >Wednesday, February 23, 2005; Page A17 > >At the National Security Council's request, the White House excised a full >chapter on Iraq's economy from last week's Economic Report of the >President, reasoning in part that the "feel good" tone of the writing >would ring hollow against the backdrop of continuing violence, according >to White House officials. > >The decision to delete an entire chapter from the Council of Economic >Advisers' annual report was highly unusual. Council members -- recruited >from the top ranks of economic academia -- have long prided themselves on >independence and intellectual integrity, and the Economic Report of the >President is the council's primary showcase. > > The withholding of a completed chapter struck some economists from both > political parties as evidence of the council's waning influence. > >"This is extraordinary," said William A. Niskanen, a CEA member in the >Reagan White House and the chairman of the libertarian Cato Institute. >"The council has been unfortunately weakened." > >Outgoing CEA Chairman N. Gregory Mankiw declined to comment. > >White House spokeswoman Dana Perino dismissed the excision as >insignificant, saying the chapter may still be published in some form in >the future. The piece dealt with the development of the Iraqi banking >system, financial markets and other economic institutions after the end of >Saddam Hussein's rule. It painted a positive portrait of Iraq's emergence >as a potential free-market bulwark in the Arab world. > >Perino said the chapter did not belong in the Economic Report of the >President. "A decision was made not to include a chapter on Iraq's economy >in the report, as the Economic Report of the President is an analysis of >the American economy," she said. > >Administration officials and economists who read the chapter said that was >only part of the story. Against a steady drumbeat of suicide bombings, >assassinations, sabotage and mile-long gasoline lines, some White House >staff members believed that such a positive take on the Iraqi >reconstruction would undermine the White House's credibility. > >There was also a basic turf battle. The National Security Council believed >the Council of Economic Advisers strayed too far from its domain, >according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid >the appearance of dissent within the White House. > >In fact, the Economic Report of the President almost always addresses >international trade issues and has often dealt with the economic policies >of other countries. The 2001 report, the Clinton White House's last, >contained two sections on raising the economic performance of other >countries and bolstering incomes in the developing world. The 2003 report, >a product of the Bush administration, contained a section on economic >"Developments in the Rest of the World." A section on "Economic Freedoms" >discussed at length economic policymaking from Chile to Austria, from >India to Cote d'Ivoire. > >Past administrations had their share of disputes with their economic >councils. After Chairman Martin Feldstein's comments on rising budget >deficits, the Reagan White House told council members "to shut up," >Niskanen said. But officials never interfered with the economic report. > >In the Clinton years, Chairman Joseph E. Stiglitz had fights with the >White House over his desire to question the use of trade laws to sanction >the emerging economies of the former Soviet Union, said Laura D'Andrea >Tyson, a former council chairman who is now dean of the London Business School. > >During the writing of the 1997 report, council members and the White House >argued heatedly over a chapter on Social Security, but in the end, the >chapter did appear, with some changes extracted by White House and >Treasury staff members. > >"We had a general sense that while we would not ever say something we did >not think to be correct, there were some issues we would choose not to >deal with," Tyson said. > >But the removal of a completed chapter, "that one's extreme," she added. >"I've never heard of anything quite like that." > >Suspicions about this year's report emerged even before the volume was >released last Thursday. The release was later than usual, and it did not >occur on the morning of Feb. 14 as initially planned. > >The 188-page analytical section was 76 pages shorter than last year's and >85 pages shorter than the average since 1990, according to Bruce Bartlett, >a conservative economic commentator. > >Council members said they were striving for brevity even before the Iraq >chapter was removed. But the White House intervention heightened concern >among some economists that the Bush administration does not value lengthy, >reasoned analyses of its policies. > >"They just don't seem to show that serious study is an important part of >politics," Bartlett said. "It's a very casual, hands-off, almost >lackadaisical approach to the policy process." > >At the White House, Perino disputed that characterization, saying: "The >annual report to the president is only one the many things [council >members] do to help the president monitor the economy and make economic >policy."
