Geithner Butt of Jokes No More as Obama’s Money Man Now on Top

[Godhumor]

Source: Bloomberg

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the U.S. economy is in a “much stronger position” than it was two years ago.

The same could be said of him.

Once the focal point for criticism of the administration’s struggle to resolve the financial crisis, opposed by almost all Senate Republicans for confirmation, and the butt of jokes by late-night comedians, Geithner has emerged as President Barack Obama’s most powerful economic policy maker. His influence on everything from overhauling housing finance to remaking the corporate tax code is reminiscent of the clout that Robert Rubin and James Baker enjoyed when they ran Treasury.

“Many would have faltered during those tough days at the beginning, but he didn’t,” said Roger Altman, founder of the investment bank Evercore Partners Inc. and a former deputy Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton. “And, between the success of the TARP investments, the auto rescues, and the overall recovery in the banking system, he’s now on top.”


Read more: http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a5o_CRFJcEiU&pos=3

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Most laudatory article I've seen about Geithner in this economy.

[Myrina]

1. What's w/ the subliminal gay references?

Is that the article's title, or yours? :shrug:

[Godhumor]

3. Their's. You can see it at the link. n/t

[yurbud]

32. he got behind the problem but was able to reach around and pull off a happy ending.

[PoliticAverse]

2. I'll file this with all those laudatory articles about Greenspan... n/t

[EFerrari]

4. "Wall Street Thanks Geithner". n/t

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

5. How do they get collated after you flush?

:shrug:

[Aerows]

6. I'm filing it

... in the same place I filed Blankfein's assertions that they were doing "God's work".

[lamp_shade]

7. Big K&R from me.

[AnneD]

8. In my mind....

he will always be a butt.....

or a tool, or a dick head.:evilgrin:

[Javaman]

9. Yay! We are falling slower into the economic abyss!

Thanks timmy!

[bemildred]

10. Sort of an economic Rumsfeld then, master of all he surveys, for the moment. nt

[Godhumor]

12. He will be given all the credit for a recovery and all the blame for a double dip

Neither is exactly true, but as the public face of the economy, he'll ride the wave both ways.

Lucky for him, we're now in a protracted economic recovery. If jobs begin truly coming back and sustains the economy, expect to hear "Geither is a financial genius!" echo right up until the next recession.

Really, a pretty similar path to Greenspan.

[bemildred]

15. Being a scapegoat can pay well.

I do not share your optimism about the economic "recovery".

[Godhumor]

18. Financially, mind you, we are recovering. The people recovery won't happen until productivity eases

As long as companies can keep up with demand with a smaller pool of employees (i.e. better productivity) they will not hire. Once demand outstrips what can be covered with current employees, hiring will pick up. This is also the primary reason hiring is a lagging indicator of recovery.

And, yes, the jobs recovery has to happen to support the overall recovery. If demand slackens because people still don't have disposable income then we're going right back down into recession.

[bemildred]

19. A new market bubble is not an economic recovery.

Market bubbles make crashes.

[Godhumor]

21. Stock market is one sign of recovery not the only

The majority of business-side indicators have been trending positive for some time and are, at this time, pretty insulated and separate from a market correction.

[bemildred]

23. Markets are highly manipulated and have little to do with overall economic activity.

They are a self-referential little world of their own now, like Las Vegas. And that is exactly what the current bubble shows, that you can have a market bubble while the economy is in the toilet. Those who have eyes, let them see,

[Godhumor]

25. Actually, it sounds like we agree on this part. Recovery is independent of a market correction

Which is why I don't talk about the market as the end-all be-all sign of overall recovery. But, again, long-term business trends also show a financial and business recovery. Now, the jobs need to catch up.

[bemildred]

27. Things go up, things go down, it's a chaotic system, like the climate.

Speaking of cause and effect for short term fluctuations is comforting, but won't buy you much predictive power.

Until the deficit is dealt with, until there are jobs, until the CDOs are dealt with, until housing prices stop declining, until people are not neck deep in debt, the long term trend is down. I've been watching it all my life, and the decline has been going on for 40 years or so now, maybe a bit longer. We used to have half the world's industrial capacity, we really did bestride the world like a colossus. That advantage has not been husbanded well by our "leaders". Bubbles are not a substitute, bubbles are like a junky getting his next fix.

[Godhumor]

28. This we disagree with--signs point to a recovery not an irrational bubble

Jobs are a lagging indicator and need to catch up

Housing prices are coming off an artificial bubble and have just recently corrected to pre-bubble levels, but will probably continue to go down as momentum is pushing in that direction.

One of the major worrisome things for businesses from the recession was people stopped taking on new debt. The last few years have seen rapid debt paydown as people tried to regain financial solvency. May it continue.

What long term trend? Please be more specific.

[former9thward]

29. We have been hearing "jobs are a lagging indicator" for 3 years now.

At one point jobs may have been a lagging indicator but never for so long as this recession. Job are a lagging indicator in a manufacturing economy. That is not true in a service /information economy that we are in now. The jobs are not there. Demand and production have both been outsourced.

[Godhumor]

31. And jobs have been growing, they have just been slow--the reason for it is the productivity ratio

And manufacturing is one of the pushes right now in the recovery, and, in fact, may be the biggest industry push. On top of which, productivity also does influence service and information--jobs lag in all areas with the exception of predictable seasonal demand.

But brutally honest--the same number of jobs lost are not going to be the jobs rehired. Companies have made significant productivity gains during the recession and will not need to rehire at a 1:1 ratio to what was lost.

[Recursion]

16. Heck, he can't even shake rumors that he worked for a Wall Street firm

Which he never has at any point in his career. He's been entirely in the public sector except for a stint at CFR.

[Fuddnik]

22. The difference between being owned by and employed by.

[Safetykitten]

35. The economic unknowns compared to the unknown, by the unknowing.

[msongs]

11. his rich friends get billions and u get crumbs, if that nt

[Betty]

13. what recovery?

just because the market has come back somewhat doesn't mean people have jobs. I am barely keeping my head above water as a self employed musician. I'm into year three of Really Not Making Enough Money,

[Marblehead]

14. yep everything is fine

now , move along

[No Elephants]

17. The bankers and investment bankers are thrilled with our "no strings" trillion?

Pshaw!


Next you'll be trying to tell me gambling goes on in Rick's Casino.

[placton]

20. hey, he and his ideas still

suck

[Roland99]

24. ugh

:puke:

[Jakes Progress]

26. Seems investment bankers are really happy with what he has done.

The guys I work with at the center - the ones of work for two years - not so much.

[OhioChick]

30. Wall St loves him n/t

[Enrique]

33. not a single word in that article about unemployment

it's a very long article, and totally ignores the largest concern among Americans: unemployment. I guess that shows that to Bloomberg, the whole universe consists of the capital class.

[Safetykitten]

34. Why he's a first class joke and a butt, and I have always have held him in that regard!

[dmosh42]

36. Why don't I feel good about this? Complete BS!

[GeorgeGist]

37. Surprise, surprise.

The Criminals love him.

[defendandprotect]

38. Geithner should remain a joke to anyone with a conscience ... !!

[marasinghe]

39. well, i believe he has graduated from clown to crook -

in the use of his govt. job to aid in the criminal cons of his banker buddies.
so, perhaps, we should be thinking of him as a swindler & not a laughable dumass.

even if he does display the same inept, blinkered vision,
that brought retribution to the Russian & French elites & their helpers.