Why AI should not replace junior White House economists (opens the source in a new tab)
- Jason Furman, who chaired Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, said he would now use AI instead of hiring 20 economists, later softening that to an AI-heavy council with a skeleton staff.
- In a Bloomberg Opinion column carried by Mint, a former CEA staffer and creator of the Sahm rule replies that the council exists to stop bad ideas, and AI models rarely push back. Junior staff often spot what doesn't add up.
- She backs AI for faster data work and extra checks. The president, she argues, needs a better council, not a smaller one.
Why it matters The row is a small, public test of a question every employer faces: if AI does entry-level work, where do tomorrow's experts come from, and who is left in the room to say no?
Other side Furman's case is that taxpayers should not fund jobs a machine can do. Newer AI tools may also challenge assumptions more than the column expects, and junior roles could change shape rather than disappear.