elect Barack Obama said on Friday he wanted “to move with all deliberate haste” to pick people for top posts, but said it was important to get it right and not be unduly rushed. With a financial crisis raging and the US economy facing a possibly deep recession, the selection of key economic advisers is believed to be at the top of his to-do list. Here are the main contenders for senior economic jobs: TREASURY SECRETARY • Lawrence Summers. He was Treasury secretary under Bill Clinton and is the former president of Harvard University. Summers' tenure at Harvard was marked by conflict with faculty and other controversies but Wall Street held him in high regard during his time at Treasury. Summers has been a top adviser to Obama, especially after the financial crisis intensified in mid-September. He gained seasoning as a financial firefighter during the 1990s when he grappled with the Mexican peso crisis, the Asian financial flu and the Russian financial crisis. • Timothy Geithner. As president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Geithner has played a lead role in efforts to stabilize financial markets. He has argued that banks crucial to the global financial system should operate under a unified regulatory framework. He worked with former Treasury secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers as undersecretary for international affairs during the Clinton administration. If Obama taps Geithner, the New York Fed would want to move quickly to replace him given the crucial role the regional Fed bank plays on Wall Street. • Paul Volcker. The former Federal Reserve chairman has been a formidable figure in the financial world since breaking the back of the double-digit inflation that emerged during the 1970s and 1980s. He endorsed Obama in January and was a key adviser in helping him craft a March speech in which the Democratic candidate called for an overhaul of US financial regulations. If the 81-year-old Volcker were tapped, it would likely be for a temporary assignment. • Jon Corzine. The governor of New Jersey and former US senator is a one-time supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton, whom Obama defeated for the Democratic party nomination. The former chairman of investment bank Goldman Sachs appeared in Chicago at an economic summit with Obama, and has helped articulate the candidate's program to curb speculation in energy markets. He told an interviewer on Wednesday that he has had no discussions about the job. • Laura Tyson. The former chairwoman of Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, who also served as his National Economic Council director, is seen as a possible long shot for the Treasury post. She is now a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and was tapped as a key adviser to Obama after he secured the Democratic nomination for president in June. • Sheila Bair. The chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp is a moderate Republican who is seen as another possible long shot. She has won praise from congressional Democrats for forcefully advocating greater efforts to help U.S. homeowners stuck with unaffordable mortgages. DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET • Peter Orszag. Has been director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office since January 2007 and previously served as an economic adviser to President Clinton. A specialist on tax and budget policy, Orszag has also focused on Social Security reform, one of several difficult issues that will face the new president. Before heading CBO, Orszag was a senior fellow at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution. DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL • Jason Furman. Obama's top economic policy coordinator and close associate of former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin was tapped shortly after Obama clinched the Democratic nomination on June 3. He was an aide in the Clinton White House and worked with Rubin on the Hamilton Project, a centrist research organization that promotes policies such as free trade and fiscal discipline. Furman's reputation as a backer of free trade initially concerned some Obama union supporters. • Peter Orszag. If he is not selected for White House budget chief, Orszag could emerge as head of the NEC. CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS • Austan Goolsbee. The University of Chicago economist specializes in tax policy and has written extensively on the role of the Internet and technology in the economy. A long-time adviser to Obama, Goolsbee has been a major player in shaping the president-elect's economic plans. He sparked controversy in March after he met with Canadian officials. A leaked memo suggested Goolsbee played down Obama's opposition to NAFTA. The Obama campaign said the memo was inaccurate. US TRADE REPRESENTATIVE • Dan Tarullo. A professor at Georgetown University law school, Tarullo specializes on trade and international economics. He was a senior White House aide to Clinton and did preparatory work for meetings of the Group of Seven industrialized economies. Tarullo has said Obama supports free trade but wants to ensure American workers are protected from unfair trade practices.
