And another one gone

AS THE economic outlook darkens again, one of Barack Obama's longest-serving advisers is bidding the administration farewell. Austan Goolsbee, the chairman of Mr Obama's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), will step down this autumn. Mr Goolsbee advised the president during his 2004 Senate run and 2008 presidential campaign, before serving as a CEA member during the tumultuous early part of the Obama presidency. He replaced Christina Romer as CEA chairman last September. Mr Goolsbee cited a desire to return to his Chicago home and to avoid losing his tenured professorship at the University of Chicago as the main reason for his departure. Others have speculated that the political logjam on Capitol Hill and the stubborn refusal of the economy to recover speedily will have been contributory factors. Mr Goolsbee's tenure as chairman has been a thankless one.

He will leave a big hole. One of the administration's better communicators, Mr Goolsbee deployed charm, humour and lucid economic argument in support of the administration's policies. He commanded the respect of left- and right-leaning economists alike. Mr Goolsbee's departure is yet another loss from a once star-studded economic brains trust. In joining eminences like Larry Summers (former head of the National Economic Council), Mrs Romer, and Peter Orszag (former budget director) on the outside, he leaves Tim Geithner, the treasury secretary, as the administration's sole economics heavyweight.