Austan Goolsbee

Debt and government spending are firmly at the top of the new Congress's agenda. And just the threat that the U.S. wouldn't pay its bills has traders worried and wondering if the U.S. could end up on the same chaotic economic path taken by Greece or Spain.

They may not make headlines, but the folks on this list of key corporate execs will likely have an outsize impact across all sectors of American business in 2011 -- from TV and household products to fast food and social networking.

In theory, the role of the director of the White House National Economic Council is to present the president with an unbiased range of economic opinions. Larry Summers didn't do that -- he promoted his own views instead. But what will his successor do -- and will it make any difference?

After the midterm elections in November, Summers is expected to relinquish his role as President Obama's National Economic Council director and return to Harvard University.

Speaking at a White House press conference, President Obama named Austan Goolsbee as his new top economic adviser. He has a "deep appreciation of how the economy affects everyday people," Obama said.

Private pollsters and economists are piling up statistics showing the government's official jobless rate is becoming more and more of a fiction. And that's not helping solve the problem that's No. 1 for most Americans.

The White House is trying to whip up support for the new Financial Reform bill, which creates an agency with broad powers to protect consumers from abusive practices of financial services firms. The bankers aren't thrilled.