THE CLINTON ECONOMIC TEAM : Economics Czar Is Wall Street Whiz : Government: The selection of Robert E. Rubin of Goldman Sachs is seen as reassuring financial markets.

In picking Robert E. Rubin to be the White House’s economics czar Thursday, President-elect Bill Clinton no doubt is hoping that Rubin can do for the U.S. economy what his management team did for Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Rubin, 54, co-chairman of the phenomenally successful investment house, presided along with his counterpart, Stephen Friedman, as Goldman Sachs solidified its preeminence on Wall Street, last year earning a record pretax profit of $1.1 billion and eclipsing its scandal-plagued rival, Salomon Bros. Rubin himself is probably one of Wall Street’s wealthiest executives.

Clinton named Rubin to be his assistant for economic affairs, and he will head the newly created National Economic Council. The new panel, patterned on the National Security Council, is meant to spearhead the new Administration’s drive to repair the U.S. economy.

The selection of a senior Wall Street official to the job was widely seen as a move to reassure the financial markets that the Clinton Administration portends no disruptive changes. In interviews Thursday, senior Wall Street executives generally approved of the economics team named by Clinton, including Sen. Lloyd Bentsen as Treasury secretary and Rep. Leon Panetta to head the Office of Management and Budget.

Executives also praised the selection of another Wall Street figure, Roger C. Altman of the Blackstone Group investment firm, as deputy Treasury secretary, and of Brookings Institution economist Alice Rivlin as deputy budget director.

But some expressed doubt about whether the new economic council will emerge as the preeminent force in shaping policy.

“Everything Bob Rubin’s done has been successful,” said James E. Cayne, president of Bear, Stearns & Co. “But the job he’s taking hasn’t existed before, and we’re guessing how much teeth it will have.”

Clinton selected one of the few Democrats to hold a senior position on Wall Street and someone who has long aspired to a major job in Washington. He advised Clinton on economic issues during the campaign and was chairman of a committee that organized the highly successful Democratic Convention in New York in July. Smooth relations with Congress were a paramount consideration in Clinton’s choice of his new economics team, and picking Rubin was definitely in line with that: Rubin has been an extremely heavy contributor to Democratic congressional and senatorial campaigns and an active fund-raiser.

“He’s got a lot of goodwill in Congress,” says Richard Jenrette, chief executive of Equitable Cos., who has long known Rubin.

Rubin is also someone who has spent almost his entire adult life at Goldman, Sachs--he joined the firm in 1966--and spent considerable time as a trader and arbitrageur. Although Rubin has never held a government job, Friedman said he is highly qualified for the senior White House position because “he’s been deeply involved in the management of a major multinational firm, which gives him an enormous front row seat on the economic currents of the times.”

He is known for a rumpled appearance and quiet demeanor. Friedman described him as “the furthest thing from an ideologue” and someone who has an exceptionally analytic mind and is open to new points of view.

Much of Goldman Sachs’ success has been attributed to its status as the last big private partnership on Wall Street, with a compensation system geared to rewarding teamwork and collegiality. Those who know Rubin well said Thursday that his skill at bringing together disparate views will be his biggest asset in dealing with Washington’s far-flung economic policy-making machine.

Martin Lipton, the prominent Wall Street lawyer and Rubin’s friend, said: “Bob was chosen because he was a very, very good manager. His primary task will be to do just what he did at Goldman, to mold a consensus among a group of people who hold very strong opinions, quite far apart.”

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