BARACK OBAMA will today place himself at the centre of the global economic crisis by announcing the team given the task of navigating the US and the world out of the financial mess and implementing one of the most ambitious public spending programmes since Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.
Mr Obama's transition team, seeking to calm the fears of Americans alarmed about jobs, homes and pensions, said yesterday the president-elect wanted Congress to have a two year economic aid plan of spending and new tax cuts ready for him to enact into law when he takes over from US President George W Bush on January 20th.
Today Mr Obama will join his vice-president-elect, Joe Biden, at a press conference in Chicago to formally introduce his economics team. Tim Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve bank of New York, is to be the new treasury secretary, and Larry Summers, who was treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, will be the new White House economics adviser.
Officials also confirmed that Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, would take the third economic slot, as commerce secretary, though the formal announcement may be made separately.
The new team is planning a huge injection of cash into the economy by sponsoring a nationwide rebuilding of roads, bridges, sewage systems and other public works, as well as the promotion of new jobs in the energy field, developing alternative fuel sources and more efficient usage.
Obama aides said the programme could save or create 2.5 million jobs by the end of 2010.
No figure has been put on spending, although economists and members of Congress have been speculating that it could be between $500 billion (€397 billion) and $700 billion, separate from the Bush administration's $700 billion bailout of the finance, insurance and mortgage industries.
In October, Mr Obama mentioned $175 billion, but the economy has since deteriorated drastically, with Citigroup becoming the latest institution to haemorrhage investor confidence.
The new Congress, with bigger Democratic majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate, is due to meet about a fortnight before the inauguration. Mr Obama's team wants Congress to use that time to put together the necessary legislation. Key Democrats in Congress said yesterday work was already under way.
Mr Obama's announcement of his team today will take some of the heat out of criticism last week that while the names of other cabinet posts were either disclosed or leaked, the most important ones - dealing with the economy - were not. The criticism was fuelled in part by a perception that there is a drift in Washington, with Mr Bush, so close to retirement, not rising to the economic challenges.
With Mr Obama's economics team in place, the shape of the cabinet is becoming much clearer. Hillary Clinton is expected to be formally announced as secretary of state after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday. - ( Guardianservice)