Not exactly major league
Source: The Economist
Mar 17th 2005 (Adapted)
By
most measures, the president has quite an ambitious economic agenda for
his second term. George Bush's goals include overhauling the tax code,
reforming the Social Security System, halving the budget deficit and
pushing through more trade agreements. But who exactly is meant to do
all this stuff?
In theory, Mr Bush's economic team is headed by
John Snow. The president was on the point of sacking his treasury
secretary at the end of last year; he then pulled back − but only
apparently to keep Mr Snow as a traveling salesman for his
pension-reform scheme. The former railroad boss has recently visited
such wellknown global financial centers as San Antonio, Albuquerque and
New Orleans.
The Treasury itself seems short of both staff and
clout with the administration. That might be excusable if economic
policy were being steered by a professional team in the White House; but
it is short of economists, particularly ones that are close to Mr Bush.
The text refers to the Treasury as
