SmartMoney's 2009 Power 30: Government

A year ago, with the markets and the economy in meltdown, the SmartMoney Power 30 was full of the usual cast of government giants and Wall Street heavyweights: Bernanke, Geithner, Buffett. But as we move to a new phase, a time of slow but seemingly steady recovery, some of the biggest players might seem more on the fringe—academics, advisers, even a lobbyist. What follows is a mix of the famous and not-so-famous, all trying to make sure in their own way that the Great Recession turns into the Great Recovery.

Sheila Bair
Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

A Republican appointed by George W. Bush to head the federal agency that insures bank deposits and bails out failing banks, Bair, 55, still has a lot of work to do. She has been an outspoken critic of the industry, pushed for more authority to regulate banks "too big to fail" and publicly criticized President Obama's financial-system reform plan, saying major parts of it won't make it through Congress. Next up: dealing with the growing number of "problem" banks, which recently topped 400, and the FDIC's insurance fund-at its lowest level since 1993.

Ben Bernanke
Chairman, Federal Reserve

He might not be a rock star, but he's hardly keeping the low profile many thought he would when he succeeded the more camera-friendly Alan Greenspan as Fed chairman. Bernanke, 55, sat down for an interview with 60 Minutes, took questions from mainstream Americans in a town hall meeting in Kansas City, Mo., and cooperated with a Wall Street Journal reporter on a book-about his role in taming the financial crisis.

The idea behind the unprecedented publicity is to get the average American to understand what's at stake in the Fed's extraordinary efforts to juice the economy. Now that the former Princeton professor has steered us away from a second Great Depression-earning the cheers of fellow economists, if not politicians-he'll face the toughest trick of all as his second four-year term begins in 2010. He has to decide when and how to slow the economy before inflation returns. "Will he have the guts to put the brake on when the unemployment lines are painfully long?" asks James Angel, associate professor of finance at Georgetown University's business school.

Earl Devaney
Chairman, Recovery Act and Transparency Board

A year ago, no one had ever heard of Earl Devaney. Then again, Congress also hadn't authorized a $787 billion stimulus package intended to resuscitate the economy-and with it, a government unit to make sure that money is spent prudently. Now the 61-year-old Interior Department's inspector general has two and a half years and a budget of $84 million to see that the stimulus package does what it's supposed to do. Step one: Get all Americans involved, via Recovery.gov, which lets anyone with Internet access see exactly where and how the money's being spent, down to the most minute details of individual contracts. Then, after essentially deputizing the population as his watchdogs, Devaney and Co. are charged with tracking fraud, waste and abuse-problems they hope citizens will flag as they dig into the data on the site. "Once the American people can see how their money gets spent, we'll never do it the old, nontransparent way again," Devaney says. "The cow is out of the barn. This is the future."

Doug Elmendorf
Director, Congressional Budget Office

The former Harvard economics professor serves as a reality check on government spending, putting a price tag on everything from the tiniest piece of pork to the cost of health care reform-and so he indirectly affects policy (along with the rest of the nonpartisan CBO). After spending much of his career behind the scenes, Elmendorf, 47, says he is learning to "pick my words carefully." Earlier this year, his blunt questions about proposed health care reform bills slowed down Democrats' efforts right before the summer recess and put him at odds with his predecessor Peter Orszag, who is now the president's budget chief. Given the spate of proposed reforms on the table, the drama isn't expected to end any day soon. The tension is just part of the job, says Alice Rivlin, who has held both men's positions in the past, but she adds, both roles "are probably crucial"-perhaps now more than ever. As Congress begins to shift its focus to other issues, Elmendorf says he is building up CBO's ability to analyze financial-sector issues in the wake of the government's deeper involvement-for example, with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-which will affect the budget and also will likely push Congress to explore ways to approach the housing market in the future.

The 2009 SmartMoney Power 30