Jump-Starting the Obama Presidency

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President Elect Barack Obama introduced four new members of his economic team, Timothy F. Geithner, Christina Romer, Lawrence Summers and Melody Barnes, at the Chicago Hilton Towers in downtown Chicago.

Jon Lowenstein / NOOR for TIME

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If the Obama presidency is not already in full swing, it will be before the year is out. Transition aides say a more detailed economic plan may come before Christmas; some elements could be drafted by the holidays and acted on by Congress in January. Other pieces, like health-care reform, can't be rushed. But there is a real chance that at least some of the economic jolt that Obama wants will be ready for his signature the moment he takes the oath of office. That will make for an extraordinary Inauguration Day--and mark just the start of the new President's efforts to meet the extraordinary challenges that await him.