MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Obama names “wise men council” to discuss US economy

US elected-president Barack Obama and his vice-president Senator Joseph Beden

US President-elect Barack Obama has appointed a team of high-level advisers including billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Google chief executive Eric Schmidt to guide his thoughts on the economy ahead of taking office on January 20.

Mr Obama's team – to be called the Transition Economic Advisory Board (TEAB) will meet for the first time on Friday to discuss the state of the economy and the prospect of taking early action ahead of his inauguration. The President-elect will meet with the board in Chicago on Friday, before then giving his first press conference since being elected. It is not known if he will use this opportunity to appoint his first Treasury Secretary – although speculation was mounting on Thursday night that he may well do so. One of two favorites for the post – former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers – is on the advisory board, but his main rival, New York Fed chief Tim Geithner is not. Other members of the advisory board include former Fed chairman Paul Volcker, whose name has also been connected with the Treasury job, as has former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who will also be at the meeting at the Chicago Hilton on Friday. Corporate America is also well represented, with Time Warner chairman Dick Parsons and Xerox chairman Anne Mulcahy sitting alongside Mr Schmidt, who was a loyal supporter of Mr Obama during his election campaign. The members of the TEAB could yet form the backbone of the President-elect Obama's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). Laura Tyson, one of Obama's key economic aides who will sit on the TEAB, was chairman of President Bill Clinton's CEA from 1993-1995. Full list of TEAB members:-David Bonior (Member House of Representatives 1977-2003); Warren Buffett (Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway); -Roel Campos (former SEC Commissioner) ; -William Daley (Chairman of the Midwest, JP Morgan Chase; Former Secretary, US Dept of Commerce, 1997-2000); -William Donaldson (Former Chairman of the SEC 2003-2005) ; -Roger Ferguson (President and CEO, TIAA-CREF and former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve); Jennifer Granholm (Governor, State of Michigan); -Anne Mulcahy (Chairman and CEO, Xerox) ; -Richard Parsons (Chairman of the Board, Time Warner); -Penny Pritzker (CEO, Classic Residence by Hyatt) ; -Robert Reich (University of California, Berkeley; Former Secretary, US Dept of Labor, 1993-1997) ; Robert Rubin (Chairman and Director of the Executive Committee, Citigroup; Former Secretary, US Dept of Treasury, 1995-1999) ; Eric Schmidt (Chairman and CEO Google) ; -Lawrence Summers (Harvard University; Managing Director, D.E. Shaw; Former Secretary, US Dept of Treasury, 1999-2001); -Laura Tyson (Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley; Former Chairman, National Economic Council, 1995-1996; Former Chairman, President's Council of Economic Advisors, 1993-1995) ; Antonio Villaraigosa (Mayor, City of Los Angeles); Paul Volcker (Former Chairman, US Federal Reserve 1979-1987).