U.S. President George W. Bush has shaken up his economic team. The moves had been long expected. Despite the U.S. administration's claim that the economic downturn was the product of events beyond its control -- an assertion that is largely true -- the president's top officials were not doing him much good either. Their penchant for gaffes and contradictory statements had undermined domestic and international confidence in his policies. Mr. Bush understands the importance of a team that speaks with one voice. Above all else, he is focusing on the 2004 elections, and he knows that the outcome will depend primarily on the state of the U.S. economy.
Last week, Mr. Bush dismissed Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and chief economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey, president of the National Economic Council. Those moves followed the resignation of Mr. Harvey Pitt, the embattled chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. O'Neill was the colorful former president of Alcoa, whose blunt talk delighted the media, rattled markets and horrified a White House that demanded consistency and the appearance of competence and control at all times.
Mr. O'Neill's gaffes were memorable. He offended Wall Street by announcing that he could learn a trader's job in two weeks. Before his first Group of Seven meeting he appeared to abandon the long-standing U.S. support for a strong dollar in a statement that shook markets and his counterparts. He insulted Brazilians by implying that economic aid for them was pointless as it only fled the country into secret overseas bank accounts. Mr. Bush had to step in to assuage bruised feelings.