Obama Officials Lining Up Board Of Outside Experts on Economy
The Obama administration plans to announce its board of economic advisers today, building a team of experts outside the White House to help sculpt a response to the deepening recession.</br></br>Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volcker, a longtime informal adviser to President Obama, is to chair the group, which is intended to offer the president fresh thinking on economic policy. The White House Economic Recovery Advisory Board, as it is called, is meant to prevent policy from being made in an "echo chamber" in Washington, Obama said when announcing the plans last year.</br></br>The president already has many strong voices advising him on economic issues, including Volcker; Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner; Lawrence H. Summers, director of the National Economic Council; Christina Romer, chairman-designate of the Council on Economic Advisers; as well as other staff members who were at his side during the campaign.</br></br>A report yesterday by Bloomberg News said that Volcker has grown frustrated with delays in establishing the new advisory panel, and particularly with his dealings with Summers. The report, attributed to "people familiar with the matter," said that Summers has not involved Volcker, who is widely regarded as a giant in the world of economic policy, in shaping decisions. Summers was quoted in the Bloomberg report as disputing that characterization, and praising Volcker.</br></br>A source outside the administration who is in contact with key policymakers said yesterday that Volcker, who during the campaign spoke frequently with Obama, has been frustrated that Summers and other White House staff have not engaged him more extensively.