Obama's economic advisor steps down

Former head of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board Paul Volcker

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161202.html


US President Barack Obama has announced the departure of former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker as the head of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

"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," the Associated Press quoted Obama as saying late Thursday.

With an intention to restructure his economic advisory board, Obama named General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt as the new head.

The new board, called the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, will focus on increasing employment.

Immelt has been a White House ally since the start of Obama's presidency, though his political contributions tend to be bipartisan and he financially supported Hillary Clinton and Republicans John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney during the 2008 presidential election.

Volcker's full two-year tenure as "one of the wisest economic minds" in the country will expire on February 6.