President-Elect Barack Obama pictured with his newly announced economic team standing behind him, along with Vice President-Elect Joe BidenFirst Obama announced Timothy Geithner as his treasury secretary. Geithner was the President of the New York Federal Reserve. Obama stated that he has chosen Geithner because he has a strong understanding of the economic problems we face and shares similar core beliefs about what needs to be done to revitalize both Wall Street and Main Street.
Geithner’s mentor, Lawrence Summers, was announced as chief of the National Economic Council. Obama stated that Summers brings “skill and experience” to the table. Summers was part of the Department of Treasury under Bill Clinton. Obama assured the American people that Summers “has helped guide us threw many economic problems in the past” and will be a key figure in guiding us threw the economic problems of today.
Obama also announced Christina Romer to chair the Council of Economic Advisers. Romer won the Berkley Distinguished Teaching Award as an economics professor at UC Berkley and was also former vice-president to the American Economic Association.
Lastly, Obama announced Melody Barnes as the director of the Domestic Policy Council. Obama said that Barnes will “work hand in hand with the economic policy team”. After all, our economy is not only affected by what happens here at home, but also by what happens in China, Japan, Russia, and other countries that we are dependent on for a successful economy.
During Obama’s short speech he stated over and over that the “key to a strong economy is a strong middle class” and that “we can not have a strong Wall Street without a strong Main Street”. Obama said that we as Americans are all in this together, and that we stand and fall as one nation. For this reason it is important that we not only help Wall Street, but also give help to the struggling families on Main Street.
Obama said there is “a clear consensus” between Republicans and Democrats that we need a large stimulus package to help get this country back on track. Obama was not yet willing to say just how big of a stimulus package we would need to get our economy going again, but some economists have given a figure of over a trillion dollars. Although Obama did not go into full detail about what he plans on doing to revitalize our economy, he did give some insight into what he plans to do during his first couple years in office. For example, he has recently stated that he plans to create 2.5 million more jobs by 2010, putting people to work through repairing roads and bridges, restoring our schools, and creating green jobs for our future. This is certainly a glimpse of hope that Obama promised throughout his campaign; hope that we should believe in.
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It should be noted that after the stock market plummeted all last week the DOW rose about 500 points on Friday after there was a leak that Obama may be appointing Tim Geithner as his treasury secretary. Today, after Geithner was officially nominated his treasury secretary, the DOW rose roughly another 390 points. Wall Street is excited about Obama's choices in his economic team, and that excitement has reflected in the stock market over the past two business days. As good as this news is, the recent rise in the stock market will only be temporary, and some real changes in our economy will have to be made.
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