What the Australians Understand abt Obama's Pet, Tim Geithner

[truedelphi]

In the Syndney Herald

Reporter, Peter Hatcher

LINK HERE:
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/obamas-economic-saviour-savaged-as-keating-lets-rip-20090306-8rk7.html

"When Barack Obama announced his champion to rescue the world from economic

ruin, it was the first time most Americans had ever heard the name Tim Geithner.

The initial impression was good."

<snip>

"...at the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Thursday, Paul Keating gave a starkly different account of Geithner's record in handling the Asian crisis: "Tim Geithner was the Treasury line officer who wrote the IMF program for Indonesia in 1997-98, which was to apply current account solutions to a capital account crisis." In other words, Geithner fundamentally misdiagnosed the problem. And his misdiagnosis led to a dreadfully wrong prescription.

Geithner thought Asia's problem was the same as the ones that had shattered Latin
America in the 1980s and Mexico in 1994, a classic current account crisis. In this kind
of crisis, the central cause is that the government has run impossibly big debts.
The solution? The IMF, the Washington-based emergency lender of last resort, will
make loans to keep the country solvent, but on condition the government hacks back its
spending. The cure addresses the ailment."

So Geithner applies the exact wrong set of macro economic monetary restrictions, and the Asian economies sink further. Oh, well. Perhaps the man has learned from his past mistakes of 1997 to 1998.

Or maybe not. Meanwhile the economy here tanks - and like a patient severely hemorrhaging, but not offered a tourniquet, the seepage continues, while we the taxpayers are asked to supply our monies to the needed transfusion. That sound of dripping on the floor - don't worry, anything leaking out, will surely be absorbed by those at the top of the banking system.

[depakid]

1. Paul Keating never has been one to mince words....

[Triana]

2. I don't like Geithner and have as little confidence in him myself - even without...

...knowing his background. He's a Wall Street hack. Anything he does will be for Wall Street and no one else - Main Streeters - go f*ck yourselves.

It's entirely conceivable that such tunnel-vision will not solve the problem.

And that scares me and it angers me because we need someone who will deal with THE ENTIRE country's economic problems - not just Wall Street's self-created mess, while they totally ignore Main St.


Bernanke - same. And Paulson - all of them Wall St. hacks.

[sendero]

8. The choosing...

.. of his economics team is the single biggest mistake Obama has made, and it is one that will likely cause the country and himself a lot of pain. Of all of the players only Volker has a shred of sense and he's apparently somewhat marginalized.

[snappyturtle]

3. MORE reasons to find Geithner unsuitable to his position. Amazing.

I was initially turned off by G's connection/attachment to Wall Street and he has yet to instill confidence into the economic situation. Consequently, I wonder why he was an attractive candidate to the President?

[rollingrock]

9. The bankers hold the real power in this country

Obama answers to Timothy Geithner (the bankers' chosen representative), not the other way around. Whatever the banks want, they get. Period.

[ihavenobias]

4. Kick. Too late to rec...

TG seems to be the worst cabinet pick so far. Many say it's too early to say, but even they can't argue that Joseph Stiglitz wouldn't have been about a millions times better, at least based on ideas.

[truedelphi]

5. Stiglitz would have been amazing.

In an alternate universe, one in which either Kucinich had Obama's looks and appeal, and is now President, or Obama had Kucinich's wisdom, and is now President, Stiglitz is installed at Treasury. And Geithner is down the hall from Madoff.

[amandabeech]

6. Great. The Asian crisis misdiagnosis, too?

Now it seems that he wants to re-inflate housing prices here, and pump money into AIG.

What is going on here?

[Hawkowl]

7. Holy Crap!!!!

This would explain a lot. This guy Geithner is beyond inept. I was extremely disappointed in his appointment. An entrenched establishment hack that had been agreeing with Greenspan during his entire tenure.

This economy is not going to turn around in Obama's first term unless the president gets rid of these people like Geithner.

[amandabeech]

10. I could not agree with you more. n/t

[fasttense]

11. Just look at how Timmy Boy is handling AIG and you know you are in trouble.

"American International Group is giving its executives tens of millions of dollars in new bonuses even though it received a taxpayer bailout of more than $170 billion dollars.

AIG is paying out the executive bonuses to meet a Sunday deadline, but the troubled insurance giant has agreed to administration requests to restrain future payments."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3783535

March 2, 2009
AIG Quarterly Loss Is $61.7 Billion: Biggest Loss In US Corporate History
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — American International Group Inc., once the world's largest insurer, said Monday it lost $61.7 billion in the fourth quarter, the biggest quarterly loss in U.S. corporate history, amid continued financial market turmoil.

MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/02/aig-quarterly-...

So they want to give bonuses to their top executives (using tax payer money) who have caused the biggest loss in US Corporate History and Tim is allowing it. If Geithner is the best man Obama can find, then there is something seriously wrong.

(Thanks to Suji to Seoul and Bhaisahab for initially posting these stories)