Princeton economist Ben Bernanke, currently a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, has been nominated as chair of President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Professor Bernanke would succeed another Princeton economist, Harvey Rosen, who was promoted to chairman of the council in February but is due to return to the Princeton faculty in the fall. Professor Rosen has served on the council since 2003. He was named chairman after Gregory Mankiw, a member of Princeton’s class of 1980, stepped down to return to his post at Harvard University, the university said.
Professor Bernanke, who also is on leave from the university, has been a member of the Federal Reserve Board since 2002 and a member of the Princeton faculty for 20 years. He will remain with the central bank’s board until the confirmation of his appointment to the Council of Economic Advisers, the university said.
The three-person council provides the president with economic analysis and advice on the development and implementation of a wide range of domestic and international economic policy issues, according to the university.
Professor Bernanke is the Howard Harrison and Gabrielle Snyder Beck Professor of Economics and Public Affairs. He was chair of Princeton’s economics department when he was named to the Federal Reserve Board three years ago. He also has served as director of the university’s Bendheim Center for Finance. He came to Princeton in 1985 after six years at Stanford University.
