Secretary of the Treasury: Timothy Geithner

To replace Hank Paulson, Obama has selected a former chairman of the Federal Reserve of New York Bank who, according to the Economist, represents competence, questions received wisdom and learns quickly. Geithner will need to. He has to find a solution to the Wall Street financial crisis, maintain funding for two hugely expensive foreign wars and negotiate the bail-out of the US car industry. Factor in the new President's promise to go through the government budget line by line, cutting the income of many departments, and the 47-year-old has his work cut out. According to Noam Schiber, Geithner is a stickler for transparency and remains highly respected on Wall Street.

FIRST POSTED JANUARY 6, 2009