A Much Needed Boost for the Council

The Administration got an additional lift on the economic front last week when the Senate approved President Ford's nomination of Burton Gordon Malkiel, a Princeton University economics professor, to the Council of Economic Advisers. The Senate's action follows its approval last month of Paul W. MacAvoy, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The appointments bring the three-man council to full strength for the first time since early spring. C.E.A. Members Gary Seevers and William Fellner resigned then; though they had other reasons as well, they were both resentful about not being consulted more often on policymaking by the Council's Chairman, Alan Greenspan.

Greenspan is not likely to make the same mistake twice, especially because Malkiel, 42, and MacAvoy, 41, are at least as independent and outspoken as their predecessors. Of MacAvoy, a friend says, "Paul has a Chicago temper. He will stand up and take you apart." Philosophically, both men share Greenspan's free-market approach to economics, though neither is considered an ideologue.

Most important, they bring to the CEA expertise in areas of critical importance to the Administration. Malkiel will generally involve himself in such broad economic subjects as monetary policy and tax matters. A specialist in money markets, he favors a mix of Government programs that would spur business spending to boost production. MacAvoy concentrates more on particular markets, like transportation, than on the overall economy. Among other things, he has advocated deregulation of the price of natural gas, a field in which he is an acknowledged expert. If nothing else, the quality of the latest appointments should go far toward restoring the professional reputation of the CEA, which was often used as a political arm during the Nixon years.

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