Bloomberg broke the news of Mr. Goolsbee's impending departure from the Obama administration. Some commentators are chalking this up to the common concern academics in government have, of being stripped of tenure for taking too long a leave. I don't mean to single out Mr. Goolsbee at all here, but that is nonsense. He is already well beyond the 1 year of leave outlined in the Chicago faculty handbook, and even if the University of Chicago were in fact shortsighted enough to fire one of their most prolific professors for staying with the administration through an entire term, what school (or business) wouldn't immediately hire him?
The simple fact is, working for the government sucks. The pay is relatively low (Goolsbee's salary in his last year at Chicago was more than double what he makes in government) while the stress is insanely high (while I always enjoyed Mr. Goolsbee's appearances on media programs, he was always there to take flak on the President's behalf). Almost no one lasts a full 4-year term; it's just not just academics like Goolsbee and Summers, but also guys like Orszag and Emanuel who have no other employer they need to get back to.
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