Oral history interview with Christina D. Romer, 2020
Abstract
Christina Romer discusses her service in the Obama presidential transition and as chair of the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2010. Romer focuses on the events of the 2008 financial crisis, with particular emphasis on CEA's contribution to debates surrounding the scale and activities of prospective fiscal stimulus programs. Romer describes the developmen t and reception of the report she authored with Jared Bernstein, "The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," which forecasted the unemployment trajectory that would result from various stimulus options. Romer provides details about important decisions of the period, including financial stabilization efforts, support for the American auto industry, mortgage refinancing, and connections between health care reform and the economic recovery. Also discussed are the administration's concerns about the size of the federal budget deficit, Republican and Tea Party opposition to fiscal stimulus, the division between economic and political counsel in the Obama White House, and the role of women in economics and public policy
Presidents--United States; Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009--United States; Health care reform--United States; Unemployment--Effect of monetary policy on; Unemployment--Mathematical models; Unemployment--Effect of inflation on; Women economists; Bailouts (Government policy)--United States; Budget deficits--United States; Romer, Christina; Obama, Barack; Council of Economic Advisers (U.S.); United States; American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2020
Physical Description
80 pages
Note (Biographical)
Professor Christina Romer served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisors in President Obama's administration. She earned her PhD from MIT and began her career as an economic historian, with a particular interest in the Great Depression
Note
Interviewed by Dov Weinryb Grohsgal on August 21, 2020. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Christina D. Romer, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2022