Obama To Name Volcker to Head Markets Panel

This news updete by www.zeenews.com



Chicago,: Barack Obama will name former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to chair an advisory panel to advise the US president-elect on stabilizing financial markets and maneuvering the country out of a recession, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The move is another step toward tackling the ailing US economy as part of an aggressive effort by Obama to demonstrate that his administration will face the global financial crisis head-on.

Obama's transition team said he would make an "economic announcement" at 10:45 a.m. EST at his third news conference of the week, following a similar event on Tuesday, when he presented his picks to head the White House budget office.

Sources said University of Chicago economist and Obama policy adviser Austan Goolsbee would serve as the panel's staff director. The body will be set up to give Obama an official forum for getting advice outside of normal bureaucratic channels.

The appointments were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Obama, who succeeds President George W. Bush on January 20, seems already to be taking the reins as financial market players increasingly tune out the current president and focus instead on the next US leader.

In addition to naming his top economic advisers, Obama has come closer to forming his national security team, with reports saying that Republican Robert Gates will stay on as defense secretary and retired Marine Gen. James Jones will take over as national security adviser.

Those appointments, along with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, are likely to be made early next week, after the November 27 Thanksgiving holiday.

Economy in Focus

For now Obama has put his focus squarely on the economy, pledging a costly stimulus package that he urged the next Congress to pass quickly.

On Tuesday, he vowed to cut billions of dollars in wasteful government spending.

But questions remain about both goals. Obama declined to put a figure on the stimulus package -- other Democrats have estimated it could cost hundreds of billions of dollars -- and he did not identify specific government programs to be cut to help pay for it.

Analysts said Obama's daily economic pronouncements showed the next president stepping into a leadership chasm.

"Confidence in Bush as an effective president has eroded so substantially that he is no longer taken seriously," said Paul Beck, a professor of political science at Ohio State University.

"There is, of course, much more confidence in Obama or he would not have been elected as president. And, he is the president-in-waiting, so the only alternative the country has to Bush as a leader, especially in a period when the markets have failed and government must play an enlarged role in them."

Obama has not shied away from telling struggling industries like banks and automakers to take responsibility for their ailing position in the economy.

In an interview with the ABC television network, Obama said bank executives should forego their bonuses this year.


News Via