President-elect Barack Obama says “help is on the way” for the nation’s economy. Announcing two more members of his economic team at a news conference in Chicago today, Obama pledged that he will have an economic plan ready for action on his first day in office. He introduced former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to head a new White House advisory board focused on creating jobs and bringing stability to the nation’s financial system. Volcker is credited with taming inflation in the 1980s by raising interest rates, though the action also helped send the economy into recession. Obama described the 81-year-old Volcker as “fairly opinionated” and someone who “pulls no punches.”
Obama also introduced University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee as the top staff official on the panel. Obama defended himself against critics who accuse him of recycling Clinton administration officials, saying his aim is to create a Cabinet that combines “experience with fresh thinking.”