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Obama names leading economists to advisory panel
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-07 11:36

WASHINGTON -- US President Barack Obama Friday named a team of leading economists to help him on the country's stricken economy as he continued his efforts for a quickly approval of his massive stimulus plan.

The new Economic Recovery Advisory Board, to be headed by Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman, will offer independent advice in regular briefings to the president, vice president and their economic team.


US President Barack Obama signs an executive order to establish the Economic Recovery Advisory Board in the East Room of the White House in Washington February 6, 2009. [Xinhua] 

Members will include former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson, TIAA-CREF President-CEO Roger Ferguson and Harvard University professor Martin Feldstein.

"I created this board to enlist voices to come from beyond the Washington echo chamber, to ensure that no stone is unturned as we work to put people back to work and get our economy moving," said Obama.

"I'm not interested in groupthink, which is why the Board reflects a broad cross-section of experience, expertise, and ideology," he said. "We've recruited Republican and Democrats; veterans of government and the private sector; advocates for business and labor."

He also joked that "these days everybody thinks they're an economist."


US President Barack Obama (1st R) speaks before signing an executive order to establish the Economic Recovery Advisory Board in the East Room of the White House in Washington February 6, 2009. [Xinhua]

"This new institution should send a signal of how seriously I take the responsibility of building an economic recovery that is broad and enduring," said the president, adding that these are "extraordinary times."

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