Obama announces economic lineup

Saying that the country faced an “economic crisis of historic proportions,” President-elect Barack Obama introduced the members of his economic advisory team this morning. As was widely reported on Friday, Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, was named the Treasury secretary InvestmentNews, Nov. 21. He has played a key role in dealing with the current economic crisis, helping Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to manage the Wall Street bailout. Lawrence Summers, the former president of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., was named the director of the National Economic Council. He will be responsible for coordinating economic policymaking and economic policy advice for the Obama administration. Mr. Summers served as the Treasury secretary under the Clinton administration. Additionally, Mr. Obama named Christina Romer chairwoman of his Council of Economic Advisors, which is responsible for providing economic analysis and advice to the president. She is a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-director of the monetary economics programs at the National Bureau of Economic Research Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. Melody Barnes was named the director of the Domestic Policy Council, which is responsible for coordinating the domestic policymaking process in the White House and offers policy advice to the president. She is the co-director of the agency review working group for the Obama-Biden transition team and previously served as executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress in Washington and as chief counsel to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D- Mass., on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Heather A. Higginbottom was named the deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council. She had earlier served as the legislative director for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. "This is a results-oriented team and they know that they will have to roll up their sleeves.and they know that they will have to solve problems from day one," said Robert Dye, senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group Inc. in Pittsburgh, which has assets under management of $63 billion.