Report: Obama economic team tired

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The past 18 months have exhausted President Obama's economic team and that is the reason a key member is quitting, his spokesman says.

Christina Romer is the second member of the president's economic team to quit this summer and Romer, chairperson of the president's council of economic advisers, is exhausted, The Hill reported Saturday.

Romer is not quitting because of reported conflicts with Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council, said White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs.

Romer and the rest of the White House economic team have worked the equivalent of six years in the 18 months they've been in office, Gibbs told the newspaper.

"These guys have probably packed a term and a half into a half of a term," Gibbs said. "If you think about what we went through in the beginning, nobody knew when we woke up if the whole thing was just going to come crashing down."

Romer also denied reports she was leaving over conflicts with Summers.

" I know there were lots of reports of some fireworks early on, but the truth is we have become good friends and good colleagues," Romer said. She also told The Hill she wants to spend more time with her family.