GENE SPERLING
(Eugene B. Sperling)
At the time there was a worldwide recession and although the United States economy was not in very good shape, it was better than the other democracies and those nations with better economies then were authoritarian governments where investors did not trust their currencies. As a result, many wealthy people and businesses throughout the world were willing to lend money to the United States as a safe haven.
The business and financial institutions actually follow the statements and actions of an administration and its officials very closely, seeking “signals” of what action the government might take in the future. The actions that they take today may not become operational for several years (like building a new factory), so they try very hard to find out what the business and economic climate might be in the years to come. Sperling, like other very sophisticated economic advisers, realized that the President and his administration can often do little directly to influence the economy, but they can control what they say and the actions that they do take, to alter the perception of the economists, financiers, and business people throughout the nation.
Eugene B. "Gene" Sperling is an American economist, who was director of the National Economic Council and assistant to the president for economic policy under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. He is the only person to serve as national economic advisor under two presidents. Outside of government, he founded the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in 2002.
