WASHINGTON — The White House announced late Monday that Austan Goolsbee will step down as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Goolsbee, one of the administration's primary voices on economic policy, has been on the council since the beginning of President Obama's term in early 2009. He succeeded Christina Roemer as chairman in September. He also had served as the staff economist for the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board
The White House said Goolsbee will reassume his position as an economics professor at the University of Chicago, where he taught for 14 years before joining the administration.
"Since I first ran for the U.S. Senate, Austan has been a close friend and one of my most trusted advisers," President Obama said in a statement. "Over the past several years, he has helped steer our country out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and although there is still much work ahead, his insights and counsel have helped lead us toward an economy that is growing and creating millions of jobs. He is one of America's great economic thinkers."
