The US economy is rightly the top priority of most Americans in the 2008 presidential election. Without a strong economy it makes it hard for the US to improve its health care system, fix education, and maintain a robust foreign policy that will encourage peace and prosperity in the rest of the world.

Given the above, what is a thoughtful voter to do? This is beyond the scope of my little blog, but if I were voting strictly on the economy I would vote for Barack Obama. Why Barack? One man – his senior economic advisor Austan Goolsbee. Mr. Goolsbee is an impressive young economist who shares the same practical economic policy principles as centrist economic luminaries such as Greg Mankiw, but Goolsbee also possesses the charisma of a television personality. If you missed it, he recently made an appearance on Charlie Rose.

While Barack Obama spent a lot of time during the primaries criticizing NAFTA and talking about raising taxes, he is no left wing tax and spend liberal. To be sure, Barack often sounds like a populist-pandering to the audience to which he is speaking-but his appointment of and friendship with Goolsbee tells me otherwise. A vote for Barack Obama is a vote for a stronger US economy.