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I would like to compliment and thank President Obama for saying this in Strasbourg, France last Friday:
As we take these steps, we also affirm that we must not erect new barriers to commerce; that trade wars have no victors. We can’t give up on open markets, even as we work to ensure that trade is [...]

Almost two months ago, President Obama set a specific employment goal for his Administration:
I think my initial measure of success is creating or saving 4 million jobs.

It is clear that this “create or save” phrase is now a standard and important part of the Administration’s economic message.
Greg Mankiw quickly identified both the quantitative ambiguity and [...]

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About Keith Hennessey

I served as the senior White House economic advisor to President George W. Bush.  My job was to coordinate economic policy for the President, including macroeconomic issues, financial markets and institutions, tax [...]

President Bush spoke at the Manhattan Institute today on financial markets and the world economy.
This speech is a prelude to the financial summit the President will host this weekend.  I’ll write separately about the Summit, and about the elements of today’s speech that talk about principles for reform.
I want to draw your attention to two [...]

President Bush spoke today about the financial crisis to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
I’m going to use the President’s speech as an opportunity to explain to a non-financial audience what the Federal government did this week and why.  I will oversimplify in many cases, and will gloss over many details.  I don’t claim that the [...]

President Bush gave a major policy address on the State Floor of the White House this evening.
THE WHITE HOUSE
State Floor
9:01 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT:  Good evening.  This is an extraordinary period for America’s economy.  Over the past few weeks, many Americans have felt anxiety about their finances and their future.  I understand their worry and their [...]

Now let’s look at last week’s farm bill procedural snafu.
Last Wednesday we thought the farm bill veto would be straightforward:

Congress passes the farm bill conference report and sends it to the President.  There are several steps in this process.

The bill is passed by both Houses.  That’s the “engrossed bill”.
This engrossed bill is then “enrolled”.  [...]

I wrote the following last Wednesday evening, in anticipation of a straightforward farm bill veto.  Little did I know the procedural snafu that would arise.
I have since edited it and written a follow-up.  I will send the follow-up email soon.  The first, written last Wednesday and included below, explains what we thought would happen.  The [...]

We expect the House to vote on the Farm Bill conference report today.  The President will veto this bill.  Here is the President’s statement on the bill.
The final legislative language for the conference report was released Tuesday morning.
Hint:  If you want to find the really bad stuff in a big bill, always start at the [...]

The President spoke this afternoon about high food prices and food aid.  If you’d like more detail, here’s our “fact sheet”.  And if you really want to dive down deep, here is a transcript of a press briefing done by three senior administration officials after the announcement:  OMB Deputy Director Steve McMillin, CEA Chairman Ed [...]