To reverse economic crises:

Obama to introduce economic team

US: US President-elect Barack Obama was poised Monday to unveil his White House economic team, which faces the monumental task of reversing one of the most serious crises faced the US economy in recent decades.

Hoping for a running start in correcting the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Obama was to hold a press conference formally announcing his choice of New York Federal Reserve Bank chief Timothy Geithner to be treasury secretary.

The pick buoyed markets when Geithner’s name was floated on Friday, causing a rebound in the price of shares on Wall Street, which closed in positive territory and ending a slump that saw shares on the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummet last week to their lowest levels since 1997.

Obama’s top strategist David Axelrod confirmed the president-elect’s choice, which was to be made official at Monday’s 1700 GMT press conference.

“Tim Geithner is someone who had experience in dealing with economic crises as the assistant secretary of Treasury for international affairs in the ‘90s,” incoming White House senior advisor Axelrod told Fox television Sunday.

“He’s intimately involved with the situation now in his role as president of New York Fed. By temperament and experience, he’s the right man to lead the treasury now.”

“The response has been great, and it should be,” Axelrod added on ABC. “Tim Geithner is uniquely qualified to do this job. He’s someone who is steeped in the economy and in managing crises.”

Obama also was expected to introduce another key member of his economic team — Lawrence Summers, a former Treasury chief in Bill Clinton’s administration, was in line to become chief economic advisor.

Axelrod did not confirm rumors that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is being vetted for Commerce Secretary.

The Treasury post is widely considered one of the most powerful in Washington.

Washington, Monday, AFP