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The White House has released a letter from the President to the two Senate Chairmen who are working on (different) versions of health care reform:  Senator Kennedy (D-MA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.  The letter is dated yesterday and [...]

Many of you are new to this blog since I wrote extensively about autos six weeks ago.  As background, I coordinated the auto loan process for President Bush last fall as the Director of the White House National Economic Council (the position now held by Dr. Lawrence Summers).  I wrote a series of posts on [...]

(Editorial note:  I was doing so well moving to shorter posts.  I fail miserably in achieving that goal here.  I went the comprehensive route instead.  I promise to return to shorter posts in the future.  Buckle up – this is a long ride.  I hope you find it’s worth it.)
(Update:  There’s an important correction in [...]

This is good language from the President in bold:
America’s dependence on oil is one of the most serious threats that our nation has faced.

This is not:
They’ll be jobs building the wind turbines and solar panels and fuel-efficient cars that will lower our dependence on foreign oil …

Nor is this:
And just last week I visited the [...]

When I was growing up, I was taught that you change the oil in your car every 3,000 miles.
Suppose I take my three-year old car to Jiffy Lube for an oil change.
Jiffy Lube has all the latest information technology, as well as good data on both manufacturers’ recommendations and best practices.
After entering my license plate [...]

President Obama spoke about loans to the auto industry at 11 AM this morning in the Grand Foyer of the White House.
In the first three parts of this series, we (1) covered some background, (2) analyzed the President’s options, and (3) learned about the loans President Bush authorized in December, which laid the groundwork for [...]

I watched the President’s Tuesday evening press conference twice, and have been studying the transcript as well.  I believe the best way to understand a policymaker is simple:  read, watch, or listen to the words that he or she says.  Getting a policymaker’s views through a news filter distorts and loses content.  In this blog, [...]

About Keith Hennessey
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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 [...]

The President hosted the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy this past Friday and Saturday at the National Building Museum here in Washington, DC.
This is the first of a two-part note.  Part one will describe the mechanics of the Summit and show some photos.  Part two will describe the substance.
The action began in [...]

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 [...]