Obama names his economic team

CHICAGO: Taking his first step toward addressing the US financial crisis, President-elect Barack Obama on Monday named the team that will steer his economic policies.

Obama nominated New York Federal Reserve Bank president Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary and picked Lawrence Summers, 53, a former Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, to be his White House economic director. Summers is also a possible successor to Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, whose term ends in January 2010.

Obama also named Christina Romer to head the Council of Economic Advisers, and Melody Barnes to serve as director of the Domestic Policy Council.

Presenting his team, Obama said the US was facing a historic economic crisis and “if we do not act swiftly and act boldly, most experts now believe we could lose millions of jobs next year.” “We do not have a minute to waste,” he said.  His economic team offered “sound judgment and fresh thinking” at a time of economic peril, he said.