A very brief introduction of the major players in the U.S government that will be involved in the economic recovery.

1. Ben Bernanke, Fed Chairman
- Pro/Con: Under him Fed cut interest rates to 0% (too aggressively?)
- Pro/Con: Spent more than a trillion dollars to relieve the economy (too much money on banks that should have just failed?)
- His opinion: Failure of biggest banks could collapse the whole economy
- His outlook: 2010 could be a year of recovery if all the biggest banks get their act together

2. Shiela Bair, Chairman of the FDIC
- cons: after her appointment 40 US banks have failed
- pros: no depositor has ever lost ANY money of FDIC funds
- proposal: modifying loans in a direction that helps people avoid foreclosure

3. Peter Orszag, Director of the Office of Management Budget (Budget Director)
- his plan: collect more revenue from higher income earners
- his plan: reduce healthcare costs
- his plan: less spending on war on Iraq

4. Larry Summers, head of National Economic Council (Treasury Secretary under Clinton)
- who he is: top advisor to President making economic policies
- why he's key: knows a lot about derivatives (the main problem of this whole economic crisis)

5. Paul Volcker, head of Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board
- his plan: restrictions on high risk activies and entities like hedge funds
- his plan: tougher restrictions on Wall Street in general
- his opinion: bigger banks should have more regulation

6. Christina Romer, head of president's Chair of Council of Economic Advisers
- why she's valuable: key in crafting the $3.6 trillion dollar budget
- her advice: urges patience in $787 billion dollar stimulus plan for it to work properly- government spending WILL fix the economy

7. Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary
- his plan: fix the banks first (by changing the way they hold capital, for the better of consumer protection, promoting market integrity, etc)
- overall: regulation is much needed