WASHINGTON – Promising that "help is on the way" for the suffering U.S. economy, President-elect Barack Obama has named former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to lead a new panel designed to help the incoming administration avoid economic "groupthink."
"Sometimes policymaking in Washington can become a little bit too ingrown, a little bit too insular," Obama told reporters at a press conference in Chicago. "The walls of the echo chamber can sometimes keep out fresh voices and new ways of thinking."
The new Economic Recovery Advisory Board, he said, would provide "an infusion of ideas from across the country and from all sectors of our economy."
Its leader, Volcker, brings years of policymaking experience to the panel. Obama pointed to his management of past economic crises and his service in both Democrat and Republican administrations. "He pulls no punches, he seems to be fairly opinionated," Obama joked.
Obama also confirmed that his economic advisor, Austan Goolsbee, will serve on the new board, as well as on the Council of Economic Advisors. Other members of the advisory board will be named in the weeks ahead.
Modeled on an Eisenhower-era intelligence advisory board, Obama's panel will report regularly to him on ways to boost growth, create jobs, raise wages and address the housing crisis.
"They are there to challenge some of our assumptions, to make sure that we are not just doing the same old thing all the time," Obama said of the board.
