Obama to name Berkeley economist to White House council

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will nominate Maurice Obstfeld, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, to serve on the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the White House said on Tuesday. Obstfeld has built a reputation as an international economist. He will replace James Stock, who is returning to a post at Harvard University. "As one of the country’s leading international macroeconomists and an all-around versatile economic thinker, Maury will make a critical contribution to the president’s continued efforts to increase growth and expand opportunity,” CEA Chairman Jason Furman said in an email. Obstfeld is the co-author of textbooks on international economics and has written widely about international finance, including about how flows of money in and out of countries can contribute to financial instability. He has strong connections to the Federal Reserve system and has spoken on several occasions at Fed conferences. (Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Leslie Adler and Andre Grenon)