Good news: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has added Nouriel Roubini and Simon Johnson to their advisory panel. This should bring some badly-needed outside perspective to Congress. Here’s a quick overview of what the CBO does (more on Roubini and Simon below):

What is the Congressional Budget Office?



The CBO is a US Government Agency which employs ~235 people, mostly economists and public policy analysts. Their job is to provide reports and data to Congress. In theory, Congress should actually listen to this advice, and at least weigh it against the nonsense being whispered into their ear by bank lobbyists at Ruth’s Chris.

CBO’s Chairman is appointed jointly by The Speaker of the House (Nancy Pelosi), and the “President pro tempore of the Senate” (Robert Byrd).

The CBO’s official mandate is to provide the Congress with two things:

Objective, nonpartisan, and timely analyses to aid in economic and budgetary decisions on the wide array of programs covered by the federal budget and

The information and estimates required for the Congressional budget process.

About the New CBO Panel Members

Simon Johnson is the former Chief Economist for the IMF, and has become a leading voice in the fight against corruption. His blockbuster article in the Atlantic, The Quiet Coup, is required reading for any self-respecting bear/skeptic/realist. In that piece, he explains how the finance industry has effectively seized control of our government.

Mr. Johnson seems like an ideal reformer. He is civil, logical, and respectful in his critiques of the current system. He doesn’t go around calling for bankers’ heads and revolution. That approach won’t work against the entrenched power structure in Washington. We have to play nice, for now.

Johnson seems to have the integrity, credibility, independence, and maybe even the influence to accomplish important things. We should support guys like this. His interview with Bill Moyer is a must-watch:

Nouriel Roubini teaches econ at NYU and is Chairman of RGE Monitor, an econ consulting firm. The mainstream media has dubbed him Dr. Doom. In an interview with Newsweek, Mr. Roubini noted that a better nickname would be Dr. Realist. And it’s an excellent point he makes. So-called “bears” like Roubini are usually dismissed by CNBS as short-sellers, pessimists, doomsayers, party-poopers, etc. But all they’re trying to do is steer the economy away from a disastrous course.

This clip is a good example of two logical economic bears, Nassim Taleb and Nouriel Roubini, being assaulted by a giddy group of morons on CNBS: