Geithner's Style Puts Him in Sync With Obama

[DogPoundPup]

Timothy Geithner devoted much of his five-year tenure at the Federal Reserve to pinpointing potential risks to the nation's sprawling financial system. His approach was methodical and cautious, searching for a middle ground between Wall Street's needs and the public interest.

But in a crisis Mr. Geithner took a far more activist bent: pushing for aggressive government intervention -- sometimes forcing decisions onto firms at risk -- when faced with imminent disasters for the economy and financial system.


"The choice is between which mistake is easier to correct: underdoing it or overdoing it," he told the Journal this spring.

The New York Fed president's style puts him in sync with President-elect Barack Obama, who is expected to name Mr. Geithner as the nation's next Treasury secretary on Monday. Both have a track record of identifying economic risks in advance through speeches and public statements. But neither has had enough power in their positions to address them fully to get ahead of the problems.

In his new role, Mr. Geithner will play a key role in resolving the nation's worst economic downturn in decades and formulating a sweeping overhaul of financial regulation. He'll also be central to numerous policy issues -- from taxes to fiscal policy -- in which his views are unknown publicly.

Read more at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122748120072051605.html

[Jennicut]

1. OMG-he isn't progressive enough...wait, he is for govt. intervention and regulation?

Oh okay.

[Pirate Smile]

2. Huff Post: Obama's Treasury Secretary A Cursing, Skateboarding "Hipster-Wonk"

Obama's Treasury Secretary A Cursing, Skateboarding "Hipster-Wonk"

The Economist profiles Barack Obama's Treasury Secretary pick, who they approvingly describe as a "seasoned crisis manager":

Mr Geithner looks a lot younger than his 47 years (though not as young as he did before the crisis began). He skateboards and snowboards and exudes a sort of hipster-wonkiness, using "way" as a synonym for "very" as in "way consequential" and occasionally underlining his point with the word "fuck". In temperament he seems similar to Mr Obama: he is suspicious of ideology, questions received wisdom, likes a competition of ideas and is keenly aware of how uncertain the world is.
...

He is a quick learner: within a year of joining the New York Fed he could debate the intricacies of monetary policy with academic experts. But he will join an Administration rapidly filling up with heavyweights on economic policy, not least of them Mr Summers. Indeed, one of the big questions of the new team that Mr Obama is expected to unveil on Monday is just how Mr Summers, a brilliant but intimidating and sometimes abrasive figure, will fit in.


Read the whole thing.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/23/obamas-treasury-secretary_n_145819.html

[Jennicut]

3. Really, he skateboards?!