Obama's team needs to move quick, some say

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Economic analysts said U.S. President-elect Barack Obama will need to act quickly and confidently to lessen the pain of an economic slowdown.

Nariman Behravesh, chief economist for HIS Global Insight said Obama should act quickly to "minimize the depth and duration of the recession," USA Today reported Wednesday.

Obama should first push for a "decisive, swift and big economic stimulus," package, Behravesh said.

The other key move for the president-elect will be to find a replacement for outgoing U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr.

At the Treasury in Washington, officials have already granted a transition team space on the second floor, the newspaper said.

Paulson has "been in touch with both candidates for many weeks," Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said. "This won't be starting from scratch."

"The key element here is confidence," another chief economist, Greg Valliere, at the Stanford Financial Group said.