Obama Cabinet, Economic Team

via MSNBC, the incoming Obama administration named the major players of its economic team to attempt to smooth the financial roller coaster the globe has been riding the last two months. Current NY Fed President Timothy Greithner will be nominated as Treasury Secretary, while his mentor Lawrence Summers (former Treasury man under the Clinton administration) will chair the National Economic Council. New Mexico Governor and former Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson will be nominated for Commerce. In addition, it is expected that Hillary Clinton will accept the position of Secretary of State.

"The emphasis on the economy began Saturday when Obama outlined the framework to save or create 2.5 million jobs by the end of 2010. The scope of the recovery package is far more ambitious than Obama had spelled out during his presidential campaign, when he proposed $175 billion of spending and tax-cutting stimulus. The new plan will be significantly larger and incorporate his campaign ideas for new jobs in environmentally friendly technologies — the "green economy." It also would include his proposals for tax relief for middle- and lower-income workers."

In a mild surprise, Obama is not calling for a tax increase on upper income households, instead expecting to merely let the Bush tax cuts expire in 2011. One number being bandied about for the size of the package is $600 billion, although there is apparently no indication where it all going to come from. I imagine the presses at the Fed are going to be very busy in the coming months.