Citigroup Inc Inc.'s chief economist is leaving the company for a job at the Treasury Department, according to an internal Citigroup memo.
Lewis Alexander, who has been at Citigroup since 1999 and before that worked at the Federal Reserve, will head to the Treasury "to work on domestic financial issues," said the Citigroup memo, which was sent Tuesday.
According to a government official, Mr. Alexander will be a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Mr. Alexander and a Treasury spokesman weren't available to comment Tuesday. A Citigroup spokesman declined to elaborate on the company's memo.
Mr. Alexander, who was the Commerce Department's chief economist from 1993 through 1996, is joining the Treasury at a time when the department is scrambling to beef up its ranks of senior officials. The staff shortage has fostered doubts on Wall Street and in Washington about the Obama administration's ability to get its arms around the financial crisis.
This gets more absurd by the moment.