Bush eyes Lawrence Lindsey for Fed post

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- The White House has expanded its search for someone to replace the head of the central bank beyond the halls of academe.

Until recently, there were reportedly three leading candidates to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, 79. They are economists Martin Feldstein of Harvard University, economist Glenn Hubbard of Columbia University and Ben Bernanke, chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

But the administration is "very concerned that whoever they get not only has understanding of monetary policy, but experience working with financial markets and the ability to use business and market contacts to get ahead of the statistical economic data," a former Bush official told the Journal.

That concern has led them to Lawrence Lindsey, an economist and former student of Feldstein, served as a Fed governor from 1991 to 1997, when he warned regularly of the dangers of the stock bubble, the Journal said.

A staunch advocate of lower taxes, he advised Bush during his 2000 campaign and then directed the White House National Economic Council.