Obama reveals his economic team

Selecting diverse people who share his vision, President-elect Barack Obama nominated the following economic team members during a press conference in Chicago today:

– Timothy Geithner, as Treasury Secretary. He currently serves as the president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

– Lawrence Summers, as director of National Economic Council. Summers is professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and a former Treasury Secretary having served under former President Bill Clinton.

– Christina Romer, as chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors. Romer is Professor of Economics at the University of California at Berkley.

– Melody Barnes, as domestic policy council. Barnes has been Executive Policy Director at the Center for American Progress and more recently policy director to the Obama campaign.

Interesting take-aways from today’s appointments:

– Obama placed emphasis on Geithner’s ovseas experience and education, including his foreign language skills;
– Summer’s past focus on middle-class economic growth was also recognized as key in his selection;
– Romer’s role as an economic historian brings knowledge of post-Depression recovery to the table.

Obama said that his economic team will begin working immediately as they do not have a minute to waste. He has asked his team to focus on developing an economic recovery plan including working with members of Congress, providing updates daily on their progress to Obama. There will be no quick fixes, no shortcuts, and full recovery will not happen immediately reminded the president-elect, who also says that his administration will go through the budget line-by-line to make meaningful cuts.

Much of the outline of the economic recovery plan was addressed by Obama this Saturday during his weekly video address, viewable below.