Obama reassures big business on economic policy

By Patrick Martin
8 November 2008

In his first public appearance as president-elect, Barack Obama held a press conference in Chicago Friday afternoon after meeting for several hours with a selected group of economic advisers, comprised entirely of bankers, corporate executives and current and former government officials.

Members of Obama’s Transitional Economic Advisory Board and other economic advisers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and Clinton-era treasury secretary and current Citigroup executive Robert Rubin, were lined up behind Obama as he answered questions from reporters.

In his opening statement to the press conference, Obama underscored the gravity of the economic crisis, citing the report earlier in the day that a net 240,000 US jobs were lost in October. “In total, we’ve lost nearly 1.2 million jobs this year, and more than 10 million Americans are now unemployed,â€