Romer’s Farewell Speech

Today, Christina Romer leaves her post as the head of the Council of Economic Advisers to return to the West Coast. The economist was among the most liberal in the White House, routinely pushing for more stimulus and government aid to help the ailing economy. In her last remarks as an administration official, to be given at 1 p.m., Romer plans to argue that intervention prevented the country from falling into another depression, but also to call for more spending to gin up the recovery.

“Given our long-run fiscal challenges, any additional support should be done in a responsible way,” she will say, according to short excerpts released. “But concern about the deficit cannot be an excuse for leaving unemployed workers to suffer.

“We have tools that would bring unemployment down without worsening our long-run fiscal outlook, if we can only find the will and the wisdom to use them.”