THE ROLE OF THE COUNCIL ON ECONOMIC ADVISORS. Common Sense and Wonder speculates on Paul Krugman's descent into madness. Krugman supposedly advised President Clinton that Presidents can really do relatively little to "manage" the economy (something President Clinton discovered after he took office, in his famous imprecation of the bond traders) after which the President named Laura d'Andrea Tyson as chief economist. Something about Common Sense's hypothesis doesn't ring completely true ... the Washington gossip section at Washington Monthly (sometime in early 1993?) called the President out for looking too interestedly at Professor Tyson. Professor Krugman has contributed to the Monthly and would likely have known the story ... no point going 'round the bend just because a President has picked an advisor to serve as eye candy.