Timothy Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary on Charlie Rose
By Barry Ritholtz - March 11th, 2009, 5:15PM
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Please use the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, unfamiliarity with empirical data, ability to repeat discredited memes, and lack of respect for scientific knowledge. Also, be sure to create straw men and argue against things I have neither said nor even implied. Any irrelevancies you can mention will also be appreciated. Lastly, kindly forgo all civility in your discourse . . . you are, after all, anonymous.
March 11th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
2:29 into it had to stop. Just sick of the same ole Paulson et al spew just coming from a different suit. Sick of it beyond words.
March 11th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
BR,
you should show this clip to a “Behavioral Psychologist” and get her/his opinion as to exactly what kind of Sociopath we’re dealing with, with this monster, Tim Geithner.
March 11th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Good luck on selling that Larchmont house.. Bet the property taxes on it are >$30k :O!!!!
March 11th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I watched it for a few minutes last night, but switched to Comedy Central after being tempted to throw something at the TV. Two things that stood out:
1. Answers were not responsive to the question asked, and;
2. Circular logic was being employed, and it began wit a false premise: Credit must be restored to the consumer for there to be any recovery, but the banks don’t trust the credit-worthiness of the consumer. The banks aren’t credit-worthy themselves, so they will not lend to each other. The Federal government will not provide the money to the banks, because they aren’t credit-worthy. Instead, private interests will provide the money to the banks for the banks to extend credit to the consumer. The Federal government will lend/guarantee the money that the private interests will pump into the banks because they don’t trust the banks or the consumer. The private interests that will provide the liquidity to the “system” are banks . . .
. . . or some such bullshit.
My kid lies better than this freekin’ mook.
March 11th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
All action verbs and no actions. Must be the modern form of all hat and no cattle.
March 11th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
I just can’t bring myself to watch it.
March 11th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
I only survived 5 min of watching it. As a public servant he’s failed. In the congressional hearings he had the “talk-to-the-hand” attitude. He’s just unable to deliver sincere and specific replies.
Where’s your banking plan? It’s been 6-12 months, how much time do you need? If a small country like Sweden can come up with a reasonable plan (based on the US dealing with the savings and loan crisis).
March 11th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
I couldn’t finish watching it either. Did he actually answer a question or say anything of substance? “We’ll use the best bullshit available.” Well, Timmy is certainly a confidence man, in a certain way.
March 11th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
He is better and smarter than he looks and sounds.
March 11th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
If one’s bias was negative before watching any portion of this piece, that bias would be confirmed no matter what Mr. Geithner had to say.
Since it is too easy to be negative in this environment and too easy to criticize Geithner, who is likely doing no worse than anyone else who is loudly criticizing him, I simply choose to have faith in my own ability to prosper in spite of the federal government.
“Keep your fears to yourself but share your courage with others.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson
March 11th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
I watched about 10 minutes.
That man does not believe a single thing he says.
He is highly aware of how tight a rope he walks.
He appears to me to be a rather soulless technician fumbling around with concepts too big for his mind to grasp.
Unintended consequences here we come!
by the way… Dow 3000 before 2010
March 11th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Geithner is a disaster. The man at the epicenter of the Lehman decision–a decision that has made this mess a whole lot worse than it otherwise might have been. The tax issue. The ongoing incompetence. I mean, seriously, who schedules a major announcement, delays it a day, then completely whiffs on anything other than, “We’re working on a plan?” Uh, seems like you should have been hashing that out since at least September 15.
I couldn’t watch it for more than about 5 minutes. The guy’s nothing more than a mouthpiece for poor Obamanomics.
In a system of fiat–a system that only functions because of confidence–it’s almost as if he’s attempting to destroy any remaining shreds of confidence anyone has in the system as we know it. I have one question. Why?
March 11th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Ludwig von Mises: “Polylogism is not a philosophy or an epistemological theory. It is an attitude of narrow-minded fanatics, who cannot imagine that anybody could be more reasonable or more clever than they themselves. Nor is polylogism scientific. It is rather the replacement of reasoning and science by superstitions. It is the characteristic mentality of an age of chaos.” – Omnipotent Government
PART IV. THE FUTURE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
XI. THE DELUSIONS OF WORLD PLANNING (pp. 240-255)
http://mises.org/etexts/mises/og/chap11.asp
1. The Term “Planning”
2. The Dictatorship Complex
3. A World Government
4. Planned Production
5. Foreign Trade Agreements
6. Monetary Planning
7. Planning International Capital Transactions
XII. PEACE SCHEMES (pp. 256-281)
1. Armament Control
2. A Critique of Some Other Schemes Proposed
3. The Union of the Western Democracies
4. Peace in Eastern Europe
5. The Problems of Asia
6. The Role of the League of Nations
CONCLUSION (pp. 282-288)
http://www.mises.org/etexts/mises/og.asp
book is available, in full, online
March 12th, 2009 at 12:03 am
“Do what is necessary and do it aggressively.” Yeah, that’s the ticket!
March 12th, 2009 at 12:05 am
@ gloppie:
“He appears to me to be a rather soulless technician fumbling around with concepts too big for his mind to grasp.”
Just it, exactly.
BTW, Charlie Rose appears to be becoming the new Ted Koppel. Just in time, too. We really need to see the movers and shakers, whatever we think about them, speaking in more than :30 or :15 soundbites.
March 12th, 2009 at 12:07 am
I think the guy told it like is. He, and those he represents, are trying to save the present financial system and those with interests in it. I believe he was quite clear about that.
It’s like an army fighting to the last man. They will steal every penny they can until somebody with the political or military will says, “enough is enough.” Revolutions have been fought over a lot less.
March 12th, 2009 at 1:40 am
When investors are willing to buy debt on a significant scale, then our economy might start to recover. Of course one must ask are there are any investors left that trust the debt markets? This all assumes we want to continue to rely on the debt/growth economic model.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:09 am
Mark E Hoffer: I like your post, but I have to warn you, the majority of people who read and comment here are Keynesian big government slaves who think they are a little liberal because they have a gay friend or listen to hip music at Manhattan cafes.
It’s nearly a waste of time….