The President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, originally the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB), was an

ad hoc ''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...

panel of non-governmental experts from business, labor, academia and elsewhere that President of the United States

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

created on February 6, 2009. The board reported to Obama and his economic team on possible ways to improve the nation's economy. Obama announced this new board on November 26, 2008, and also announced that it would be chaired by former

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

Chairman

Paul Volcker Paul Adolph Volcker Jr. (September 5, 1927 – December 8, 2019) was an American economist who served as the 12th chair of the Federal Reserve, chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987. During his tenure as chairman, Volcker was widely ...

with campaign economic adviser

Austan Goolsbee Austan Dean Goolsbee (born August 18, 1969) is an American economist and writer. He is the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Goolsbee formerly served as the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago's Boo ...

as staff director and chief economist. The council met a total of four times, with its final meeting on January 17, 2012. In 2013, the authorization for the council was not renewed, causing the council to be permanently shut down.

Overview

The board followed the model of the

President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board The President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) is an advisory body to the Executive Office of the President of the United States. According to its self-description, it "provides advice to the President concerning the quality and adequacy o ...

(PFIAB), which President

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

established in 1956. Like the PFIAB, the advisory board was meant to pierce what Obama called the "insularity" of Washington decision-making processes. In announcing the board, Obama commented that "The walls of the echo chamber can sometimes keep out fresh voices and new ways of thinking – and those who serve in Washington don't always have a ground-level sense of which programs and policies are working." The PERAB was intended to provide that ground-level sense, and Obama said that this mission was reflected in the board's diverse membership.

Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American New Keynesian economics, New Keynesian economist who is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the CUNY Graduate Center, Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He ...

, a Nobel laureate in economics and a noted progressive columnist, has argued that, given the centrist makeup of Obama's economic inner circle, the new board could be used to "give progressive economists a voice." He mentioned James K. Galbraith, Larry Mishel of the

Economic Policy Institute The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is a 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) non-profit think tank based in Washington, D.C., that carries out economic research and analyzes the economic impact of policies and proposals. Affiliated with the Labor un ...

Dean Baker Dean Baker (born July 13, 1958) is an American macroeconomist who co-founded the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) with Mark Weisbrot. Baker has been credited as one of the first economists to have identified the 2007–08 United S ...

, and

Jared Bernstein Jared Bernstein (born December 26, 1955) is an American government official who was the chair of the United States Council of Economic Advisers. He is a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. From 2009 to 2011, Bernstein was ...

as progressive economists who might be suitable for the board. Bernstein, however, was subsequently named to a full-time administration position as chief economist and economic policy adviser to Vice President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

. According to an Obama transition press release, "The Board will be established initially for a two-year term, after which the President will make a determination on whether to continue its existence based on its continued necessity."

, the board's Chief Economist, made an appearance on ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...

'' with Jon Stewart on August 19, 2009. According to a March 25, 2009 press briefing by OMB Director Peter Orszag, the administration charged PERAB with proposing approaches to three budget related tasks: simplifying taxation, closing tax loopholes and reducing tax evasion, and reducing

corporate welfare Corporate welfare refers to government financial assistance, Subsidy, subsidies, tax breaks, or other favorable policies provided to private businesses or specific industries, ostensibly to promote economic growth, job creation, or other public b ...

. The board was renewed after its charter expired on February 6, 2011, with a new focus on economic competitiveness, with its name changing from The President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board to the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Volcker was replaced as head of the board by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt – Volcker is not a part of the reconstituted board and was not consulted about its new makeup. In August 2011, Jeffrey Immelt announced that

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

would create 11,000 onshore IT jobs.

Council recommendations

The Council released an interim report with a series of recommendations in October 2011. The report included five major initiatives to increase employment while improving competitiveness: # Measures to accelerate investment into job-rich projects in infrastructure and energy development; # A comprehensive drive to ignite entrepreneurship and accelerate the number and scale of young, small businesses and high-growth firms that produce an outsized share of America's new jobs; # A national investment initiative to boost jobs-creating inward investment in the United States, both from global firms headquartered elsewhere and from multinational corporations headquartered here; # Ideas to simplify regulatory review and streamline project approvals to accelerate jobs and growth; and, # Steps to ensure America has the talent in place to fill existing job openings as well as to boost future job creation.

Criticism

Volcker was said to be disappointed in how the board was used as a public relations tool by the White House, saying that live broadcast of its meetings made honest discussion difficult. According to former U.S. Treasury deputy assistant secretary Joseph Engelhard, "They pretty much used him to look tough on regulation, and now they're done with him, they're saying goodbye."

Members

The President and Mr. Volcker announced the board's membership on February 6, 2009. Members included: * Jeff Immelt, council chair and

CEO *

Ursula Burns Ursula M. Burns (born September 20, 1958) is an American businesswoman. Burns is known for her tenure as the CEO of Xerox from 2009 to 2016. In this role, Burns was the first black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company. She is also the first woma ...

, chairwoman and CEO of

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...

* Steve Case, chairman and CEO of

Revolution LLC Revolution LLC is an American investment firm based in Washington, D.C., founded in 2005 by AOL co-founder Steve Case, after leaving the AOL Time Warner board. The firm seeks to fund entrepreneurs who are transforming legacy industries with inn ...

and chairman of the

Case Foundation Founded in 1997 by AOL co-founder Steve Case and his wife Jean Case, the Case Foundation invests in individuals, nonprofits and social enterprises aiming to connect people, increase giving and catalyze civic action. Echoing the foundation's deep ...

* Christopher Che, president and CEO, Hooven-Dayton Corporation * Kenneth Chenault, chairman and CEO of

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

John Doerr L. John Doerr (born June 29, 1951) is an American investor and venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins in Menlo Park, California. In February 2009, Doerr was appointed a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board to provide the ...

, partner at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers * Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., president and CEO of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund ( TIAA-CREF) * Mark Gallogly, founder and managing partner at Centerbridge Partners L.P. * Joseph Hansen, president of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) * Lewis Hay, CEO of NextEra Energy * Gary Kelly, chairman and CEO of

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., or simply Southwest, is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States that formerly operated on a low-cost carrier model. It is headquartered in the Love Field, Dallas, Love Field neighborhood ...

* Ellen Kullman, chairwoman and CEO,

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Eric Lander Eric Steven Lander (born February 3, 1957) is an American mathematician and geneticist who is a professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School. Eric Lander is ...

, founding director of the

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of MIT and Harvard * Monica C. Lozano,Lozano profile/linkages
Muckety profile/linkages, including directorships at

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, "

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". Retrieved 2-20-09. director of

* Jim McNerney, chairman and CEO of

The Boeing Company The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

* Darlene Miller, owner and CEO of Permac Industries * Paul Otellini, former president and CEO of

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

* Richard Parsons, former chairman of

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and the former chairman and CEO of

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

* Penny Pritzker, chair and founder of Pritzker Realty Group and Classic Residence by Hyatt * Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation * Matthew Rose, chairman and CEO of

Burlington Northern Santa Fe BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

Railway *

Sheryl Sandberg Sheryl Kara Sandberg (born August 28, 1969) is an American technology executive, philanthropist, and writer. Sandberg served as chief operating officer (COO) of Meta Platforms, a position from which she stepped down in August 2022. She is also ...

, COO of

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* Richard L. Trumka, president of the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

* Laura D'Andrea Tyson, former chair of the

Council of Economic Advisers The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a United States agency within the Executive Office of the President established in 1946, which advises the president of the United States on economic policy. The CEA provides much of the empirical resea ...

during the

Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

* Robert Wolf, chairman and CEO of

UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...

Group Americas

References

External links

Video of PERAB Announcement

Whitehouse.gov

President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness-Interim Report-October 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness United States federal boards, commissions, and committees Presidency of Barack Obama Organizations established in 2009 2013 disestablishments in the United States United States economic policy United States national commissions American advisory organizations