In nominating Jack Lew to replace Tim Geithner as Treasury secretary, Barack Obama has stuck to his inner circle. Presidents like to fill big jobs with those they trust. Mr Lew, who for the past year was White House chief of staff and before that head of its budget office, certainly fits that bill. He brings an insider’s knowledge, having served in the Clinton White House and as a Capitol Hill staffer. There can be little doubt he possesses an excellent grasp of the technicalities and will speak with the president’s confidence.

Yet Mr Lew’s selection also hints discomfitingly at the status quo. He will inherit a confluence of formidable challenges. In addition to the next fiscal cliff and the related threats on the debt ceiling and a possible government shutdown, the eurozone’s problems pose a continuing danger to US financial stability. There is also the matter of overseeing Wall Street re-regulation and steering the US economy on a path to sustained recovery. Coping with these challenges will require heft and broad expertise. Mr Lew knows the US budget inside out. That is a necessary but not sufficient criterion for success.

From Alexander Hamilton to Robert Rubin, America’s most effective Treasury secretaries have possessed a vision that put their stamp on the economy. As a high-level functionary and longtime Democratic party loyalist, Mr Lew’s chief qualifications are technocratic. He will need to get rapidly up to speed on three issues.