President-elect Barack Obama will be taking office in January, and his transition team will have plenty to deal with. Jamie S. Gorelick, a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP and former deputy U.S. attorney general, said at the The Deal's M&A Outlook 2009 conference on Tuesday that the president-elect will take a centrist stance on policy targeted to restart the economy. His centrist stance can be seen in his unnatural calmness during crises of his campaigning as well as in his resistance to partisan and personal attacks on the campaign trail, Gorelick said. She added that she has "never seen [a time] where regulation and public policy will dictate the success of deals."
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So, what kind of candidates in Obama's administration does Gorelick think he is looking for? She says people with diverse backgrounds who will challenge his views. He wants people to be able to tell him something is wrong, Gorelick continued.
On the economic front, Gorelick said the president-elect will likely have a multipronged plan to stimulate the economy. She said he will likely have a short-term economic plan that will include tax cuts and an extension of unemployment benefits to get money in the marketplace. In the long term, she said Obama's administration will focus on regulatory policy for issues that may address mortgage problems as well as the impact of investment banks becoming holding companies.
But whatever regulation changes are made in the Obama administration, Gorelick said, "We do not want to undermine innovation and growth." - Gerald Magpily
