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U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue issued the following statement on the announcement of President-elect Barack Obama’s economic team: “President-elect Obama has chosen a strong, experienced economic team. Restoring the nation’s economic health must be our top priority and the Chamber stands ready to work with the new administration to spur growth and job creation. This team brings a wealth of knowledge to Washington and an understanding that any sustainable economic recovery will involve the business sector.”

“Tim Geithner has a deep understanding of our capital markets and the experience and credibility to tackle our nation’s biggest challenge — restoring our economy and rebuilding our financial markets. He has been directly engaged in all the steps taken so far to address this unprecedented crisis and is well qualified to lead the Treasury Department. Larry Summers’ knowledge of economic issues and past experience as Treasury secretary will serve President Obama well. Likewise, Christina Romer and Melody Barnes will bring an understanding that any sustainable economic recovery will involve the business sector.”

(H/T Jake Tapper.)

Here’s the YouTube of Obama’s announcement today:

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McClatchy is reporting about the unusual bipartisan spirit of this transition: America has never seen anything quite like this: The president and president-elect acting like co-presidents, consulting and cooperating on the day’s biggest crises. “It’s pretty unusual,” said George Edwards, a presidential expert at Texas A&M;University, in College Station. What Princeton University professor Julian Zelizer calls “the split-screen presidency” is the result of several historic forces converging this fall: * The 24-7 nature of the global economy, which demands timely reaction. * Incoming and outgoing presidents who have personal and political reasons to show that they can manage a crisis. * A president-elect, Barack Obama, who “believes in strong government and wants to get things under way immediately,” said William Leuchtenburg, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor who’s written extensively about the presidency. * A lame-duck president, George W. Bush, who’s leaving office voluntarily. “Bush was not defeated. That makes for an easier relationship,” Leutchtenburg said.

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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.

Founding Editor Donna Ladd is a writer, journalist and editor from Philadelphia, Miss., a graduate of Mississippi State University and later the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she was an alumni award recipient in 2021. She writes about racism/whiteness, poverty, gender, violence, journalism and the criminal justice system. She contributes long-form features and essays to The Guardian when she has time, and was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press. She co-founded the statewide nonprofit Mississippi Free Press with Kimberly Griffin in March 2020, and the Mississippi Business Journal named her one of the state's top CEOs in 2024. Read more at donnaladd.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @donnerkay and email her at donna@mississippifreepress.org.