The mainstream press has heaped praise on President Obama’s pick to head his Council of Economic Advisers. Alan Krueger is indeed a prestigious economist, noted for his empirical work and lack of ideological bent.
The mainstream press particularly emphasizes his controversial work on minimum wages which concludes that in the case studied the minimum wage did not depress employment. Insofar as this finding defies much conventional wisdom, this particular study set off a string of research that served the economics profession well.
