Bush's Chief Tax Adviser Throws In The Towel

03 March 2003 Glen Hubbard, one of the chief movers behind President Bush's $674 billion economic stimulus plan, announced last Wednesday that he would be stepping down as the head of the Council of Economic Advisers at the end of the week.

Mr Hubbard had been on leave from his position as a professor at New York's Columbia University, and cited spending more time with his family in New York as his reason for leaving.

Although the departure of the President's chief tax adviser was not unexpected, the timing could not have been worse, as the administration is still trying to persuade Congess to adopt the massive tax cut package which centres around the removal of taxes on stock dividends. According to reports, as an expert on the economic effects of taxes, Hubbard was a strong advocate of this proposal.