Geithner reportedly picks Citigroup economist for post

WASHINGTON - Citigroup's chief economist is being tapped for a job at the short-staffed Treasury Department, which is at the center of the Obama administration's efforts to battle the financial crisis.

Lewis Alexander will become a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement has not been made. Alexander will work on domestic finance matters, the official said.

Alexander has worked at the Federal Reserve and was the Commerce Department's chief economist in the 1990s.

As a Wall Street insider from a bank that has been one of the largest recipients of government rescue funds, Alexander could raise some eyebrows.

In December 2007, he was quoted as saying that while he believed the housing market would remain weak well into 2008, it was more likely the economy would keep growing than head into recession. He said the housing bubble was "correcting on its own."