Why the Geithner Pick Is Even Better Than You Think

[babylonsister]

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/11/22/why-the-geithner-pick-is-even-better-than-you-think.aspx

Why the Geithner Pick Is Even Better Than You Think


A few weeks ago, I wrote a profile of Tim Geithner that explored his relationship with Larry Summers during their eight years together at Treasury in the 1990s. The two men had formed such a productive partnership that I wondered if there were some way of reuniting them under Obama. Invariably the answer from sources was “no.” Both had achieved “principal” status (Geithner spent the last five years as president of the New York Fed, Summers was Bill Clinton’s final Treasury Secretary) and there was, alas, only one top job.

So I was thrilled to hear yesterday about the dream-team pairing that will make Geithner Treasury Secretary and Summers a top White House adviser. Geithner is one of the most able technocrats to have risen through Treasury’s ranks, which makes him the perfect pick to run its sprawling bureaucracy; Summers is one of the top two or three economic minds of his generation, which makes him a guy you want in the room with the president.

snip//

1.) Substantively, Geithner will have the chief responsibility for resuscitating and reforming the financial markets, an area where he’s developed extensive expertise at the New York Fed. Summers will, in turn, be the guy the administration defers to on broad macroeconomic decisions--how big a stimulus bill should be, how the money should be allocated between unemployment benefits, aid to states, infrastructure projects, tax cuts, etc. (One thing to keep in mind about Geithner: He’s one of the least territorial people ever to work in government, with the possible exception of his old boss Bob Rubin, who was also famous for this. If Geithner thinks a colleague is in a better position tackle something, his impulse is to get out of the way.)

2.) Geithner and Summers will also have complementary procedural roles when dispensing advice to Obama. Summers’s instincts are pretty activist--he tends to favor aggressive government intervention during a crisis. Obama is innately cautious. Even when his head tells him to be aggressive, his gut tells him to slow down. The problem with a combination like this is that it can lead to stalemate: The activist guy pushes and the cautious guy clams up.

Which is where Geithner comes in. Geithner has, over the years, displayed a knack for getting to where Summers is headed, but with less indigestion all around. For example, in the fall of 1997, Geithner, Summers, and then-Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin had to formulate a response to the Korean financial crisis, which was on the verge of spreading around the globe. Summers wanted a huge show of force--accelerating an existing IMF package and kicking in a U.S. bailout to boot--which made Rubin queasy. Geithner helped broker the compromise that won Rubin over. (It involved asking private banks to re-schedule Korea’s debts so the country wouldn’t need as big a bailout.) I can imagine a similar situation arising under Obama.

3.) Geithner will take the lead on all things political. He’s developed strong relationships up and down Wall Street over the last five years, so he shouldn’t have trouble selling his reform agenda there. He also has extensive experience navigating Capitol Hill, having helped advance the Clinton administration’s debt relief agenda there during the mid-to-late ‘90s, over deep conservative opposition. Anyone who can convince the Jesse Helmses of the world to ease up on third-world countries can probably guide a stimulus bill through Congress.

--Noam Scheiber

[geckosfeet]

1. 59 days.

[madrchsod]

2. that`s 59 days to long

i keep telling my daughter who works for an auto subassembly business that after jan 20th things are going to change...


59 more days

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. That is heartening news!

thanks for this information

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Here's my concern:

1. Timothy Franz Geithner...
* worked for Kissinger and Associates in Washington, D.C., for three years ( 95-98, I think)
* Member Council for Foreign Relations ( CFR)
* worked for IMF 2001-2003
* arranged sale of Bear Stearns
2. Larry Summers
* World Bank chief Economist 91-93
*long-time political mentor is Robert Rubin, CFR member
*ardent proponent of free trade and globalization
* signed off a memo stating developed countries ought to export more pollution to developing countries.
* long history of controversy and conflicts of interest resulting in financial gain, not supportive of progressive ideas.

I refer anyone interested to Wikipedia bios of both men.

These 2 men, along with Rubin, seem to be very much "more of the same" globalization/World Bank/IMF that has led to the current world financial crisis.
The same minds which contributed to the problem cannot solve it..
paraphrase of Einstein.

[Cha]

5. Sounds Good!

I'm thinking all the picks have come from long and hard discussions and decisions.