In the stream of information about the financial crisis on Wall Street and the government's $700B bailout plan, there is a great deal of confusion, both about the deepest causes of the problems and the wisdom of various solutions. With a price tag of over $2000 for every citizen of the United States, fixing the mess is of great concern to us all.
Barack Obama has the opportunity to offer clear leadership by convening an economic task force to address root causes and offer true solutions moving forward. For such a task force, he could include his existing economic advisors, but also harness the insights of people outside of the Democratic Party, outside of the Beltway, and especially outside of Wall Street. By convening a wider range of expertise as well as drawing from groups such as the World Bank, the IMF, think tanks, and independent universities, the task force could develop a more neutral, objective, and wiser assessment of the root causes and thus have a better chance at offering true solutions.
Throwing $700B at the problem in a rash and desperate way could ultimately lead to greater damage to the economy and especially to the American taxpayer. Empowering Secretary Paulson to make unilateral decisions without oversight, as the current proposal stipulates, does not get at the root cause since he's deeply embedded in the very systems he would be seeking to fix. It also sets up the possibility for abuses of power by the Bush administration.
Convening a working council of economic experts from all political persuasions and from around the globe would be more likely to illuminate a truly wise course of action, as well as demonstrate Obama's ability to work beyond party lines and beyond national boundaries.
The way I envision it, he could rapidly convene a five-day American Economic Forum to address the root causes of the American financial crisis. For four days, the experts would work together on a comprehensive assessment of what went wrong at all levels, from legislative and regulatory oversight to the way bonuses were structured. And this analysis would lead to a series of recommendations, with each expert's support or opposition to proposed solutions made transparent. On the final day, Obama would attend and listen to the consolidated recommendations of all of these experts and thus formulate a specific game plan for his administration, which could also be offered now as the Congress struggles with a positive path forward.
By creating a trans-partisan and trans-national economic task force to address the root causes, Obama could begin to act presidential now. This would not only be a great relief to the American taxpayers, who are desperately hoping that their interests will be protected in this bailout of bad business practices. It will also be a relief to the many voters who are watching Obama closely for signs of what kind of leader he will be.
If Obama uses the considerable convening power of his campaign in the service of creating better economic solutions for America now, rather than after he is in office, the political, economic, and practical benefits will be considerable for us all.