Peter Orszag, the all-powerful White House budget director, will be the first senior member of President Barack Obama’s economic team to leave the administration, probably in a few weeks’ time.
His departure, while not unexpected, leaves a significant gap that Mr Obama will surely try to fill as soon as he can given the urgency with which America’s dire fiscal position needs to be tackled.
Despite Mr Orszag’s young age of 41, he is considered one of the most influential budget director in decades, playing a pivotal role in engineering Mr Obama’s two signature pieces of legislation so far: the stimulus bill and healthcare reform.
This will make him tough to replace, and the most likely candidates at this point are Read more
The 2010 emergency Budget has lived up to its historic billing. Huge spending cuts and big tax rises are planned to bring borrowing down from its current rate in excess of 10 per cent of national income.
Having strengthened yesterday, the renminbi has opened sharply down against the dollar – indeed by the largest weakening since December 2008.
Chris Giles
Michael Steen
Robin Harding
Ralph Atkins
Claire Jones
