Google Ducks Tech Presidency

Despite rumors to the contrary, generated by his endorsement of Barack Obama and participation in the president-elect's economic summit, Google CEO Eric Schmidt won't agree to become the nation's new chief technology officer. When asked by CNBC's Jim Cramer whether he would take the job, which entails beefing up the government's information technology and setting high-tech policy, Schmidt declared, "I love working at Google, and I'm very happy to stay at Google, so the answer is no."

Schmidt gave the same answer in a Sunday Q&A with New York Times correspondent Miguel Helft. And that was just about the only straight answer he gave in a long game of duck-the-question. Q&As usually tend toward sycophantic hero worship in the business press, so props to Helft for dispensing with the kissy-face and getting to the point. But watching executives give nonanswers is its own special treat, so we've reproduced Helft's questions below, along with a summary of Schmidt's answers.

Helft: Google is working hard to rein in expenses. Is that because Google has matured or because of the economic crisis? And how bad do you think the economy will get?

Schmidt: Aw, we're just being prudent. But we're still Google!

Given the uncertainty, do you plan for a worst-case situation or something else?

Something else.