Kevin Hassett

“Trump to nominate pro-immigration free-trading globalist as CEA chair” is a piece on:

Kevin Hassett, the economist who will be nominated by Donald Trump to be the next chair of the Council of Economic Advisors.

The latest reports of internal White House drama suggest that Gary Cohn is amassing power and that Steven Bannon is struggling. With the selection of Hassett as CEA chair, it would seem that nationalist forces have lost some ground when it comes to the economic advice reaching the president — at least for now.

The piece begins with a few choice quotes from ^[1](Hassett):

“America Needs more workers… With lackluster GDP growth threatening to become our new normal, allowing more immigrants to enter for the sake of employment is one of the few policies that might restore our old normal. If the U.S. doubled its total immigration and prioritized bringing in new workers, it could add more than half a percentage point a year to expected GDP growth…

“Understanding the role of the United States in the global economy… Liberalized trade — in broadly multilateral, regional, or bilateral agreements — is a key ingredient in the recipe for prosperity. … An absolute prerequisite for long-term economic growth is full participation in the global economy and trading system…

“Analysis of the economic effects of immigration reform… This paper explores the economic consequences of expanded immigration on the U.S. economy. It begins by reviewing the immigration practices of our OECD trading partners, and documenting that immigration, as a share of the work force, is well below international norms. The literature identifying the economic impact of immigration is reviewed, suggesting that economic growth could expand significantly if immigration in the U.S. were expanded.

The Trump Train seems to be going off the rails with urgency.