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Obvious Thought

News   March 24, 2009 at 4:55 pm Josh Feit

This is not actually ObamaNerd here. (He’s busy getting out the glow-in-the-dark lube for tonight’s O-conference.)

But can I just say: Give Geithner (former chair of the NY Federal Reserve) the boot.

Part of the case against Hillary Clinton during the race between Obama and Clinton was that she was gonna pick insiders and so nothing was going to change. And Obama was going to pick new people so everything would change. Remember “change.”

Who should Obama appoint as the new Secretary of the Treasury? 

Nobel-prize winner, Paul Krugman.


  • Obama Nerd

    um. gross.

  • Obama Nerd

    um. gross.

  • http://www.MillerForSeattle.org/ David Miller

    It’s nearly impossible for someone who has been as inside Wall Street as Geithner to really see what needs to be done to ‘fix’ Wall Street. It is just so foreign for one of them to propose controlling leverage, limit the number of derivatives on any primary security, and eliminate/restrict short selling. In my experience, they don’t even know where to begin to have the conversation.

    If you didn’t catch the Wired article on “The Formula That Killed Wall Street”, I highly recommend it. Read it not so much for the geeking about the math, but for the insight as to how much herd mentality there is on Wall Street.

    It took me three years to find a reporter who would listen to me on insider trading in biotech. Everyone but Luke Timmerman and David Heath from our very own Seattle Times just thought it was business as usual. They won the Scripps Howard Foundation’s 2005 National Journalism Award for Business/Economics Reporting for the investigative piece, by the way.

    That’s all the long way around saying 10 years of writing on the markets makes me agree that we need someone from outside to clean house. The insiders are incapable even if their spirit is willing.

  • http://www.MillerForSeattle.org David Miller

    It’s nearly impossible for someone who has been as inside Wall Street as Geithner to really see what needs to be done to ‘fix’ Wall Street. It is just so foreign for one of them to propose controlling leverage, limit the number of derivatives on any primary security, and eliminate/restrict short selling. In my experience, they don’t even know where to begin to have the conversation.

    If you didn’t catch the Wired article on “The Formula That Killed Wall Street”, I highly recommend it. Read it not so much for the geeking about the math, but for the insight as to how much herd mentality there is on Wall Street.

    It took me three years to find a reporter who would listen to me on insider trading in biotech. Everyone but Luke Timmerman and David Heath from our very own Seattle Times just thought it was business as usual. They won the Scripps Howard Foundation’s 2005 National Journalism Award for Business/Economics Reporting for the investigative piece, by the way.

    That’s all the long way around saying 10 years of writing on the markets makes me agree that we need someone from outside to clean house. The insiders are incapable even if their spirit is willing.

  • Trevor

    The Nation made a similar argument (against Geithner, though for… Spitzer!): http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/420275/spitzer_for_treasury

  • Trevor

    The Nation made a similar argument (against Geithner, though for… Spitzer!): http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/420275/spitzer_for_treasury

  • Chris Stefan

    I agree Geithner and Summers have been horrible.

    However I’m concerned that sacking them so early in the administration would send the wrong signal.

    Is it better politically to have them resign or be fired right away or is it better to ease them out quietly and just take away their policy role for now.

    Also I’m not sure Krugman would be the best choice for Treasury secretary. Fed Chairman possibly or for Summers job. I think the Treasury Secretary needs to be someone with a bit more real-world experience in one of the relevant areas.

  • Chris Stefan

    I agree Geithner and Summers have been horrible.

    However I’m concerned that sacking them so early in the administration would send the wrong signal.

    Is it better politically to have them resign or be fired right away or is it better to ease them out quietly and just take away their policy role for now.

    Also I’m not sure Krugman would be the best choice for Treasury secretary. Fed Chairman possibly or for Summers job. I think the Treasury Secretary needs to be someone with a bit more real-world experience in one of the relevant areas.

  • ANPEQ2

    On the other hand, Andrew Sullivan provides a useful counterpoint to the calls for Geithner’s head.

    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/03/obama-non-lefty.html#more

    Bottom line, it will take some patience on our part for policies to take hold. How much patience can be expected will be as much a political issue as an economic one. Globalized, complex, service-based economies aren’t going to respond quickly, no matter who is at the helm of Treasury. On that note, I second Chris’ observation that real world experience in managing something (anything) is a useful attribute in a cabinet secretary – and sometimes academics (even Nobel Laureates) can best serve by pushing from outside the system.

  • ANPEQ2

    On the other hand, Andrew Sullivan provides a useful counterpoint to the calls for Geithner’s head.

    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/03/obama-non-lefty.html#more

    Bottom line, it will take some patience on our part for policies to take hold. How much patience can be expected will be as much a political issue as an economic one. Globalized, complex, service-based economies aren’t going to respond quickly, no matter who is at the helm of Treasury. On that note, I second Chris’ observation that real world experience in managing something (anything) is a useful attribute in a cabinet secretary – and sometimes academics (even Nobel Laureates) can best serve by pushing from outside the system.