President-elect Barack Obama completes economic team
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In the face of one America’s worst financial crisis, President-elect Barack Obama picked three experienced veterans to complete his economic team. During a press conference in Chicago, Obama introduced former U.S. treasury undersecretary Gary Gensler to head the Commodity Future Trading Commission. CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Mary Schapiro was selected to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rounding out the announcements of the day was Obama’s selection of Georgetown University professor and former Clinton economic advisor, Daniel Tarullo, for the open federal reserve seat.
In explaining his picks, Obama stressed the importance of regulation and economic and financial reform. Obama spoke out on his outrage over the Madoff Investment Securities scandal, citing as a perfect example for the need for a better system.
“Charities that invested in Madoff could end up losing savings on which millions depend – a massive fraud that was made possible in part by the regulators who were assigned to oversee Wall Street dropped the ball,” Obama said. “And if the financial crisis has taught us anything, it’s that this failure of oversight and accountability doesn’t just harm individuals involved. It has the potential to devastate our entire economy and that is a failure we can’t afford.”
As the SEC already faces heavy criticism for their failure to monitor problems and protect investors on Wall Street, Obama says Schapiro is a perfect fit. Calling his newest leader of the SEC “a regulator, who’s smart and tough,”
In her address at the press conference, Schapiro proved just that. “As the events of the past year – even the past week – have shown us, this is a perilous time for investors,” Schapiro said. “Americans are looking to policy makers and regulators to restore stability and trust to our financial markets.”
If approved by the Senate, Tarullo, a former advisor to President Bill Clinton, will assume the open seat on the board of governors for the Federal Reserve board. “If confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to working with chairman Bernanke, the other members of the board, the open market committee and the outstanding staff of the Federal Reserve in helping to steer the economy through these difficult times and in adjusting regulatory and supervisory practices as to maintain a stable and efficient financial system,” he said.
Obama will hold one more press conference tomorrow in Chicago before heading to Hawaii with his family. –gavin philip godfrey
