The Fierce Urgency of Now

Why Obama has to take over economic policymaking—today.

By Daniel Gross
Posted Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008, at 5:38 PM ET

The transition from the Bush-Cheney administration to the Obama-Biden administration is well underway. The president-elect has reportedly asked Rahm Emanuel to serve as his chief of staff. On Thursday, Obama will start to receive intelligence briefings.

That's a good start. Given Obama's methodical, no-drama style, we probably shouldn't expect hasty announcements of Cabinet secretaries. After all, the 11-week transition period offers plenty of time to mull over names and vet candidates. And with incumbent secretaries and other officials eager to hold on to their jobs in this punk market, Obama won't need to have a full slate ready on Jan. 20, 2009. The departments of Transportation and Health and Human Services will continue to chug along, even if Obama waits until February or March to choose new leaders. But in the area of economic and financial policy, the transition must start in an instant. On CNBC, John Harwood this morning said that Obama might wait until about Thanksgiving to announce a new Treasury secretary. (The smart money says it'll be Larry Summers. The stupid money—i.e., mine—is on Tim Geithner.) That's not soon enough. It may be poor form, but Obama and his team need to get involved in economic policymaking yesterday. Here's why.