Reviving the ailing US economy will, according to US President Barack Obama, need “fresh thinking and bold new ideas from the leading minds across America.” Obama’s way of bringing this challenge to the core is the formation of the 16-member Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
After months away from the spotlight, the panel was finally unveiled on May 20, three months after its creation. The team is composed of a diverse mix of experts and strategists from the academe, labor, and business, who, prior to their public presentation, labored behind-the-scenes, providing Obama an external perspective on economic issues.
The economic recovery panel works outside the White House, according to White House spokesperson Jen Psaki, focusing on bringing about “a diverse set of perspectives and voices from different parts of the country and different sectors on the economy to bear in the formulation and evaluation of economic policy.”
The American public was given the opportunity to view the team in action live via video streaming on the White House website during May 20’s 10:00 am meeting, of which the creation of “green jobs” was top of the agenda.
The panel consists of a high-caliber mixture of Democrats and Republicans with the singular aim of putting America’s economy back on its feet.
Heading the panel is 81-year old Wall Street legend Paul Volcker, well known for conquering runaway inflation during the 1980s. Other advisors include:
• William Donaldson, previous chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
• Roger Ferguson, president and CEO of TIAA-CREF,
• Robert Wolf, Chairman and CEO of UBS Group Americas,
• David Swensen of Yale University,
• Mark Gallogly, founder of Centerbridge Partners L.P.,
• Penny Prtizker of the Prtizker Realty Group,
• John Doerr, a partner of Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers,
• Jim Owens, chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, Inc.,
• Monica Lozano, publisher of La Opinion; Charles Phillips, president of Oracle Corp,
• Anna Burger, secretary-treasurer of Service Employees International Union,
• Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO labor organization,
• Laura D’Andrea Tyson, dean of UCLA, and
• Martin Feldstein of Harvard and Jeffrey Immelt, chief executive of GE.