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http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200812/20081219/article_385076.htm
Obama picks 3 economic veterans
Created: 2008-12-19 1:08:47
UNITED States President-elect Barack Obama has chosen three experienced financial regulators to serve the country as it faces unrelenting turmoil in financial markets and the broader economy.
It comes as Obama lays the groundwork for a giant economic stimulus package, possibly US$850 billion over two years, aimed at reviving the flagging economy.
It would rival drastic government actions taken to fight the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Democratic officials say Obama wants Gary Gensler to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Daniel Tarullo for a Federal Reserve seat.
Obama announced the picks at a news conference yesterday, along with Mary Schapiro to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission. That agency faces growing criticism for its failure to protect investors and detect trouble brewing on Wall Street. Schapiro has served as an SEC commissioner in Republican and Democratic administrations.
Transition officials say they expect more nominations this week before Obama leaves on a holiday vacation to Hawaii.
Obama, a Democrat, also intends to add a second Republican to his Cabinet. He will announce Republican Ray LaHood of Illinois as his choice for transportation secretary, Democratic officials said.
The other Republican in Obama's Cabinet is current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, whom Obama has asked to stay in his job.
The SEC stands at what could be one of the most difficult times in its history, buffeted by criticism for failing to detect signs that major Wall Street banks were in trouble before the financial crisis erupted and for possibly lax oversight and enforcement in other areas.
As the scandal involving disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff has stunned Wall Street and injured investors around the globe, revelations surfaced that staff at the SEC repeatedly failed over the course of a decade to fully investigate credible allegations against Madoff. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox on Tuesday ordered the agency to investigate what went wrong.
Obama's economic advisers, meanwhile, have been assembling a recovery plan. While some economists recommended spending of up to US$1 trillion over two years to jolt the economy, a more likely figure seems to be US$850 billion.
Obama is promoting a recovery plan that would feature spending on roads and other infrastructure projects, adopting environmentally friendly technologies.
It comes as Obama lays the groundwork for a giant economic stimulus package, possibly US$850 billion over two years, aimed at reviving the flagging economy.
It would rival drastic government actions taken to fight the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Democratic officials say Obama wants Gary Gensler to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Daniel Tarullo for a Federal Reserve seat.
Obama announced the picks at a news conference yesterday, along with Mary Schapiro to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission. That agency faces growing criticism for its failure to protect investors and detect trouble brewing on Wall Street. Schapiro has served as an SEC commissioner in Republican and Democratic administrations.
Transition officials say they expect more nominations this week before Obama leaves on a holiday vacation to Hawaii.
Obama, a Democrat, also intends to add a second Republican to his Cabinet. He will announce Republican Ray LaHood of Illinois as his choice for transportation secretary, Democratic officials said.
The other Republican in Obama's Cabinet is current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, whom Obama has asked to stay in his job.
The SEC stands at what could be one of the most difficult times in its history, buffeted by criticism for failing to detect signs that major Wall Street banks were in trouble before the financial crisis erupted and for possibly lax oversight and enforcement in other areas.
As the scandal involving disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff has stunned Wall Street and injured investors around the globe, revelations surfaced that staff at the SEC repeatedly failed over the course of a decade to fully investigate credible allegations against Madoff. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox on Tuesday ordered the agency to investigate what went wrong.
Obama's economic advisers, meanwhile, have been assembling a recovery plan. While some economists recommended spending of up to US$1 trillion over two years to jolt the economy, a more likely figure seems to be US$850 billion.
Obama is promoting a recovery plan that would feature spending on roads and other infrastructure projects, adopting environmentally friendly technologies.
Agencies
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