WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is restructuring his economic-advisory board to emphasize job creation, and he is naming General Electric chief executive Jeffrey Immelt as its new head.
The new board, called the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, will replace the former Economic Recovery Advisory Board that had been chaired by former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker.
Obama announced late Thursday that Volcker was ending his tenure on the panel when its mandate expires Feb. 6.
The change signals Obama’s intention to shift from policies that were designed to stabilize the economy after the 2008 financial meltdown to a renewed focus on increasing employment, a vexing task that could affect his re-election prospects. The White House says the board’s mission will be to help generate ideas from the private sector to speed up economic growth and promote U.S. competitiveness.
The advisory board has included past government officials and representatives from labor and the corporate world. Volcker has been a regular White House adviser, though the board itself has met infrequently with the president.
“Since my campaign for president, I have relied on Paul Volcker’s counsel as we worked to recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” Obama said in a statement Thursday. “I have valued his friendship and skill over the years, and I will rely on his counsel for years to come,” Obama said.
Immelt, a member of the economic-recovery advisory panel, announced the reconstituted board in an opinion piece today in The Washington Post. In it, he called for a focus on manufacturing and exports, trade and innovation.
