Meet Team Obama

The president-elect introduces his economy squad. They'll be busy. Here's where to start.

President-elect Barack Obama has named several key members of his economic team, sending a sign to markets that he's moving swiftly to shore up the economy.

As expected, New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner has been tapped as the next Treasury secretary, and former Treasury secretary Lawrence Summer will take the reins as the director of the National Economic Council. University of California-Berkeley economics professor Christina Romer has been nominated as director of the Council of Economic Advisers. Melody Barnes, an Obama adviser and former counsel for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., has been nominated as the director of the Domestic Policy Council. Heather Higginbotham, also an Obama adviser and former staffer for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., will be Barnes' deputy.

Missing from the list: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who was reportedly offered the position of secretary of commerce; University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee, who is expected to take a slot on the Council of Economic Advisers; and Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag, who has reportedly been selected as director of the president's Office of Management and Budget.

"I've sought leaders who could offer both sound judgment and fresh thinking, both a depth of experience and a wealth of bold new ideas," Obama said in a Chicago press conference. The president-elect said that all of these nominees "share my fundamental belief that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers." (Full Text: Obama's Economic Team Announcement)

Despite the impressive credentials of this group, what is more important is what they will do with the economic hand they have been dealt. Late Sunday, Uncle Sam agreed to lend troubled Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ) an additional $20 billion from its bailout purse and to backstop $306 billion of the firm's troubled loans and securities.

Meanwhile, last week, the heads of General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ), Chrysler and Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ) returned to Detroit, discouraged that they were unable to convince Congress (at least for now) of the need to direct $25 billion in bailout money their way. Aside from a late afternoon rally Friday on the news of Geithner's appointment, equity markets continue to plunge.

Obama at least has seized the moment. Over the weekend, he announced broad plans for a two-year economic stimulus plan that would create 2.5 million jobs. Initial analyses put the price tag anywhere between $500 billion and $700 billion, dwarfing the $150 billion stimulus proposal he put forth on the campaign trail.