7 Feb 2009

Obama names economic advisory panel

8:53 am on 7 February 2009

President Barack Obama has named an advisory panel led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to help guide his efforts to rescue the economy and rebuild the US financial system.

The Economic Recovery Advisory Board was announced at the White House on Friday.

The panel includes:

Lawrence Summers, a former Treasury secretary who now heads the National Economic Council

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who previously headed the New York Fed.

Christina Romer, who chairs the White House Council of Economic Advisers and is an expert on the Great Depression.

Robert Wolf, chairman and chief executive of UBS Group Americas

Jim Owens, chairman and chief executive of Caterpillar Inc

Anna Burger, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union

Penny Pritzker, chairman and founder of Pritzker Realty Group who was also the finance chair of Mr Obama's presidential campaign

Laura D'Andrea Tyson, a former Clinton administration economist

William Donaldson, who was Securities and Exchange Commission chairman under former President George W. Bush

Harvard economist Martin Feldstein, who served in the Reagan administration.

When he announced the idea of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board in November, Mr Obama said its intent was to help him avoid "insular" government decision-making.

Mr Obama relied heavily on Mr Volcker, 81, for advice during his campaign for the White House.

He was Federal Reserve chairman from 1979 to 1987 under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.