Undismal Scientist: University of Chicago economics professor Austan Goolsbee Credit: Chris Strong

The Fourth of July is just days away, and on the Loop's crowded streets and plazas, outside the downtown campus of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, the city swelters. Upstairs, in an air-conditioned office, Austan Goolsbee is recounting how he was transformed from an economics professor into the senior economic advisor to a candidate for the presidency of the United States.

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