President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board
Encyclopedia
The President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, originally the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, is a panel of non-governmental experts from business, labor, academia and elsewhere that President of the United States Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 created on February 6, 2009. The board reports regularly to Obama and his economic team on possible ways to improve the nation's economy. Obama announced this new board on November 26, 2008, and also announced that it would be chaired by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker
Paul Volcker
Paul Adolph Volcker, Jr. is an American economist. He was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve under United States Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan from August 1979 to August 1987. He is widely credited with ending the high levels of inflation seen in the United States in the 1970s and...

 with campaign economic adviser Austan Goolsbee
Austan Goolsbee
Austan Dean Goolsbee is an American economist, formerly serving as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and the youngest member of the cabinet of President Barack Obama. Goolsbee is from the University of Chicago where he is the Robert P...

 as staff director and chief economist.

Overview

The board follows the model of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
The President's Intelligence Advisory Board is an advisor to the Executive Office of the President of the United States. According to its self-description, it "...provides advice to the President concerning the quality and adequacy of intelligence collection, of analysis and estimates, of...

 (PFIAB), which President Dwight Eisenhower established in 1956. Like the PFIAB, the new advisory board is meant to pierce what Obama called the "insularity" of Washington decision-making processes. In announcing the new board, Obama commented that “The walls of the echo chamber can sometimes keep out fresh voices and new ways of thinking -- and those who serve in Washington don’t always have a ground-level sense of which programs and policies are working.”

The PERAB is intended to provide that ground-level sense, and Obama said that this mission is reflected in the board's diverse membership. Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman
Paul Robin Krugman is an American economist, professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times...

, a Nobel
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...

 laureate in economics and a noted progressive columnist, has argued that, given the centrist makeup of Obama's economic inner circle, the new board could be used to "give progressive economists a voice." He mentioned James K. Galbraith
James K. Galbraith
James Kenneth Galbraith is an American economist who writes frequently for mainstream and liberal publications on economic topics. He is currently a professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and at the Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Senior...

, Larry Mishel
Lawrence Mishel
Lawrence Mishel is president of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., a progressive think-tank that seeks to advance the interests of American workers...

 of the Economic Policy Institute
Economic Policy Institute
The Economic Policy Institute is a 501 non-profit, liberal, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy...

, Dean Baker
Dean Baker
Dean Baker is an American macroeconomist and co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, with Mark Weisbrot. He previously was a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute and an assistant professor of economics at Bucknell University. He has a Ph.D...

, and Jared Bernstein
Jared Bernstein
Jared Bernstein is an American economist who previously served as Chief Economist and Economic Policy Adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden in the Obama Administration. In early 2009 Bernstein was named Executive Director of the newly formed White House Middle Class Working Families Task Force. He...

 as progressive economists who might be suitable for the board. Bernstein, however, was subsequently named to a full-time administration position as chief economist and economic policy adviser to Vice President Joe Biden
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...

.

According to an Obama transition press release, "The Board will be established initially for a two-year term, after which the President will make a determination on whether to continue its existence based on its continued necessity."

Austan Goolsbee
Austan Goolsbee
Austan Dean Goolsbee is an American economist, formerly serving as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and the youngest member of the cabinet of President Barack Obama. Goolsbee is from the University of Chicago where he is the Robert P...

, the board's Chief Economist, made an appearance on The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...

 with Jon Stewart on August 19, 2009

According to a March 25, 2009 press briefing by OMB Director Peter Orszag
Peter Ország
Peter Ország is a Slovak ice hockey referee, who referees in the Slovak Extraliga.-Career:He has officiated many international tournaments including the Winter Olympics. He has been named Slovak referee of the year....

, the administration charged PERAB with proposing approaches to three budget related tasks: simplifying taxation, closing tax loopholes and reducing tax evasion, and reducing corporate welfare
Corporate welfare
Corporate welfare is a pejorative term describing a government's bestowal of money grants, tax breaks, or other special favorable treatment on corporations or selected corporations. The term compares corporate subsidies and welfare payments to the poor, and implies that corporations are much less...

.

The board was renewed after its charter expired on February 6, 2011, with a new focus on economic competitiveness, with its name changing from The President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board to the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Volcker was replaced as head of the board by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt
- Volcker is not a part of the reconstituted board and was not consulted about its new makeup.

Criticism

Volcker was said to be disappointed in how the board was used a public relations tool by the White House, saying that live broadcast of its meetings made honest discussion difficult. According to former U.S. Treasury deputy assistant secretary Joseph Engelhard, “They pretty much used him to look tough on regulation, and now they’re done with him, they’re saying goodbye.”

Members

The President and Mr. Volcker announced the board's membership on February 6, 2009. Members include:
  • Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric
    General Electric
    General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

     chief executive
  • James W. Owens
    James W. Owens
    James W. Owens is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines...

    , head of Caterpillar
    Caterpillar Inc.
    Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...

  • Robert Wolf
    Robert Wolf (American businessman)
    Robert Wolf is an American businessman. He has been President and Chief Operating Officer of UBS Investment Bank since 2004 and the Chairman and CEO of UBS's Group Americas division since January 1, 2007. He is responsible for accelerating UBS’s client base and coordinating Investment banking,...

    , chairman and CEO of UBS Group Americas
  • Mark Gallogly
    Mark Gallogly
    Mark Gallogly is currently a managing principal, and was a founder, of the New York City based private investment firm Centerbridge Partners He formerly served as a Senior Managing Director of the Blackstone Group from May 1989 to September 2005.He is currently a member of President Barack...

    , founder and managing partner at Centerbridge Partners L.P.
  • Penny Pritzker
    Penny Pritzker
    Penny Sue Pritzker is an American business executive, and a member of the Pritzker family of Chicago, one of America's wealthiest business families...

    , chair and founder of Pritzker Realty Group and Classic Residence by Hyatt
    Classic Residence by Hyatt
    Vi is a national developer, owner and manager of high-end retirement communities across the United States. It is a privately held corporation founded in 1987 by its Chairman, Penny Pritzker. As of May 2011, the company housed over 6,000 residents and employed 3,936 workers...

  • John Doerr
    John Doerr
    L. John Doerr is an American venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in Menlo Park, California, in Silicon Valley. In February 2009, Doerr was appointed as a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board to provide the president and his administration with advice and...

    , partner at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers
    Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers
    Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers ' is a world-leading venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park in Silicon Valley. The Wall Street Journal has called it one of the "largest and most established" venture capital firms in the world...

  • Monica C. Lozano
    Monica C. Lozano
    Monica Cecilia Lozano is an American newspaper editor, the publisher and Chief Executive Officer of La Opinión and senior vice president of its parent company, Impremedia, LLC. Based in Los Angeles, La Opinión is the largest Spanish publication in the United States. She is a member of President...

    , Director of Bank of America
    Bank of America
    Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...

  • Charles E. Phillips, Jr., president of Infor.
  • Richard L. Trumka
    Richard Trumka
    Richard Louis Trumka is an organized labor leader in the United States. He was elected President of the AFL-CIO on September 16, 2009, at the labor federation's convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, from 1995 to 2009, and prior to that was...

    , president of the AFL-CIO
    AFL-CIO
    The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...

  • Austan Goolsbee
    Austan Goolsbee
    Austan Dean Goolsbee is an American economist, formerly serving as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and the youngest member of the cabinet of President Barack Obama. Goolsbee is from the University of Chicago where he is the Robert P...

    , chairman of Council of Economic Advisers
    Council of Economic Advisers
    The Council of Economic Advisers is an agency within the Executive Office of the President that advises the President of the United States on economic policy...

  • Christina Romer
    Christina Romer
    Christina D. Romer is the Class of 1957 Garff B. Wilson Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley and a former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration...

    , former chairperson of Council of Economic Advisers
    Council of Economic Advisers
    The Council of Economic Advisers is an agency within the Executive Office of the President that advises the President of the United States on economic policy...

  • William H. Donaldson
    William H. Donaldson
    William Henry Donaldson was the 27th Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission , serving from February 2003 to June 2005...

    , former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman
  • Laura D'Andrea Tyson
    Laura D'Andrea Tyson
    Laura D'Andrea Tyson is an American economist and former Chair of the US President's Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton Administration. She also served as Director of the National Economic Council...

    , former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
    Council of Economic Advisers
    The Council of Economic Advisers is an agency within the Executive Office of the President that advises the President of the United States on economic policy...

     during the Clinton Administration
  • Martin Feldstein
    Martin Feldstein
    Martin Stuart "Marty" Feldstein is an economist. He is currently the George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and the president emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research . He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the NBER from 1978 through 2008...

    , former chief economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Reagan
    Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

    ,
  • Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
    Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
    Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. is an American economist, who was Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1999 to 2006 and is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund...

    , President and Chief Executive Officer of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF
    TIAA-CREF
    Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading retirement provider for people who work in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields...

    )
  • David F. Swensen, CIO at Yale University
    Yale University
    Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...


External links

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