Who Will Replace Larry Summers? The Possible Candidates To Head White House Economic Team (PHOTOS)

As pundits produce unofficial lists of candidates to replace top White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers -- who will leave the White House to return to Harvard University by year's end -- potential successors are being measured by how they differ from him. It's an opportunity, many say, to change how the nation's economy policy is perceived.

Politico speculates that the replacement will be a female CEO. All of the current holders of the four top economic slots in the administration -- Office of Management and Budget director Jacob Lew (incoming), Treasury secretary Tim Geithner, Council of Economic Advisers chairman Austan Goolsbee and Summers himself -- are white males with little real world business experience, Politico notes. Given the scandal at Harvard that led to Summers stepping down as president, appointing a woman might seem like poetic justice.

On CNBC's "Squawk Box" Wednesday morning, Greg Valliere of think tank Potomac Research Group said business experience is the top priority. "Could they maybe get one person who's run a payroll, who's run a business? I'm not sure about the gender, but I think the profession, yeah, definitely, they've got to get someone who has business experience," he said.

As the Wall Street Journal notes, appointing a businessperson would help dispel notions that the White House is somehow anti-business.

Still, Reuters' Felix Salmon thinks PR isn't the most important factor in this decision. "The corporate-executive idea is a bit weird: of all the positions in the White House economic team, one would expect the NEC director to actually be an economist. And there aren't many economists who are also prominent corporate executives," he says. "I also very much doubt that the presence of a corporate executive in the White House would have any success at all in countering criticism that the administration is anti-business."

Check out the names that have been tossed around (hat tip to Reuters and Politico):

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Laura Tyson

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A professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, she was the first woman to serve as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, under President Clinton.

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A professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, she was the first woman to serve as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, under President Clinton.

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Comments

[rory talbot]

11:43 PM on 09/24/2010

News Flash: "Citing Concern Over 'Anti-Business' Image, Obama Pardons, Then Nominates Bernie Madoff. Says Bernie 'Will Finally Bring a Voice to the Underrepresented Wall Street Crowd in My Administration.'"

[rory talbot]

11:36 PM on 09/24/2010

This just in: Obama nominates Phil Gramm. Says 'Gramm shows same common sense and concern for Middle Class as my previous nominees."

[delta7777]

05:02 PM on 09/24/2010

.
Robert Reich could do the job well
.

[crepidarian]

05:22 PM on 09/23/2010

How about Elizabeth Warren?

[Chucktheman]

04:19 PM on 09/23/2010

Jeffrey Immelt and GE represent the worst in out souring jobs to China and Mexico and GE has put more Americans out of work than most major Corporations.  Search brands ownd by GE and you will find the names of companies that were eaten up and moved out of country. This is not the kind of mover and shaker we need looking after our interests. Most of the people on the list are pro China, pro uber capitalism to the point they dont care about the American job market or tax base. They have proven that by destroying our GDP and that is what our economy is base upon. Try to recover without either and you will see the end of the nation as we know it..

[Billicart]

03:30 AM on 09/23/2010

FOR @#$%^& sake not Laura Tyson. She is just another sycophantic Wall Street academic. Ever see her squirm at Davos. Absolutely no original thoughts emanate between those ears.. So much of current woes were incubated at the Business Schools it is imperative no academics get the nod.

[kenhamlett]

12:13 AM on 09/23/2010

Well, this is another case of inside baseball. Everyone is from this Wall Street firm or that corporation or is currently an assistant to Geithner or Summers. During the 2008 primary campaign, my friends kept telling me that Obama was not like other politicians, and that his administration would include the best and the brightest and people would be hired for jobs that would show that the President thinks outside the box. Sounds to me like he is still in that same box he has been in since inauguration day!

[InofTouch]

04:34 AM on 09/23/2010

Please tell me who everyone is...thank you

[buzzy]

07:17 AM on 09/23/2010

It's the old bait and switch...shows you you volcker before election...after ward it's geithner and summers
meet the new boss
same as the old boss

[dem 01]

12:06 AM on 09/23/2010

Who Will Replace Larry Summers?
A Likudnik !
90% of his admin. are Likudniks.

[doneflyin]

12:01 AM on 09/23/2010

He will appoint the one wanted by the financial establishment.

[moretaxes]

11:25 PM on 09/22/2010

I vote for ann fudge she has no experience or any kind of financial background that would round out baraks cabinet of l0srs. Although Daffy duck would be a better choice

[ponderingmuch]

10:46 PM on 09/22/2010

None of the above sounds good to me.

Ask Elizabeth Warren to come up with a list.

[mbo2]

10:08 PM on 09/22/2010

Governments cannot create wealth by printing money. If they could we wouldn't have to work.

[GlenJo]

08:57 PM on 09/22/2010

Good lord, they're thinking about appointing people from bailed out companies like GE and Citigroup? A guy from Moodies - the people that rated everything AAA? People that work for Summers and Geithner?

Don't they realize that EVERYBODY associated with the Wall St bailout is viewed as tainted and a failure by the public? These people need to retire out of the public's eye. There they can spend the rest of their lives trying to reclaim their reputation from the ash heap of history.

[JBS]

08:52 PM on 09/22/2010

How about J. Fred Muggs? He wouldn't do any worse than his predecessor.

[mandalay007]

08:30 PM on 09/22/2010

ALSO, he has shown his kissing up to biz already by the appt. of LEW at OMB-------