Council of Economic Advisers CEA

The Employment Act of 1946, passed amid fears of a return to Depression-era unemployment, created the Council of Economic Advisers to give the President professional economic analysis. It has three members appointed by the President, with the chair confirmed by the Senate, supported by a small staff of economists, many of them on leave from universities or federal agencies.

The council analyzes economic conditions, evaluates policy proposals from across the government, and briefs the President on the economy. Each year it writes most of the Economic Report of the President, a long survey of the economy and the administration's policy arguments, sent to Congress with the President's own message. Unlike the Treasury or the Office of Management and Budget, it runs no programs and has no operational duties, so its influence depends on its standing with the President.

Its chairs have included many prominent economists, among them Arthur Burns, Walter Heller, Alan Greenspan, Janet Yellen, and Ben Bernanke, several of whom later led the Federal Reserve. Critics across administrations have noted that the council's analysis can become advocacy for the President's agenda, while defenders argue it brings professional economic reasoning into decisions that would otherwise be driven by politics.