N.Y. Fed Chief said to be Treasury pick
Sources close to Obama's transition team are confirming reports that Obama will nominate Timothy Geithner, President of the N.Y. Federal Reserve Bank, to be Treasury Secretary. John Dimsdale reports.
New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
More on Politics
TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: You know how we've been saying the last hour or so of trading has been crazy the past couple of months and that there's rarely been a clear reason? Not so today at all. Almost the minute that NBC News reported President-elect Barack Obama will name New York Fed Chief Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary, early next week probably, it was off to the races on Wall Street. The Dow gained 500 points in the last two hours. Marketplace's John Dimsdale explains what all the excitement was about.
John Dimsdale: In Timothy Geithner, the Obama administration gets a fresh face and continuity. At 47, Geithner is a relative newcomer, especially compared to some Clinton administration veterans under consideration for other posts. He has advised both the Obama campaign and transition team and will represent the change the President-elect is looking for.
Geithner is less of a Wall Street insider and more of an outside expert on the financial system. He brokered many of the deals that kept banks and insurance companies afloat and helped structure the $700 billion bailout. As president of the New York Fed, Geithner is already known on Wall Street. And he worked at the Clinton Treasury Department as an aide to both Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers.
In Washington, I'm John Dimsdale for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
From CO, 11/26/2008
You can interpret 'change' as you will.
Only time will tell us whether it works.
Right now the Bush administration is up to its old tricks--giving non-existent 'cash infusions' to major players. Only today did I hear Paulson mention that a tiny fraction will be made available for smaller innovative businesses. Of course that is an afterthought. The only way for our economy to recover is to foster creative endeavors via smallish loans, not unlike the microloans used in small local economies of the developing world.
Healthy economies have minute capillary beds of currency transactions when local markets exchange units of currency for goods or services received. The longer a unit of currency remains in circulation the better. Smaller enterprises make for economic health. The world is run by large economic entities that drain local economies of their lifeblood. Is it any wonder that everything is crashing down around us?
I have ever wondered how an economy can be healthy if it crashes regularly. Of course the bigger the crash the less healthy the economy was.
Added to the economy is the 'crash' of the world's sustainable resource base that is presently gaining momentum. Bluefin tuna are now overfished and their population is going to crash at the present fishing rate. This crashing is happening to all the major fish stocks that feed us. Why is this happening just now? I believe we have reached a 'tipping point' in which the human population has exceeded the natural world's ability to replenish even renewable resources. Overuse makes even renewables non-renewable. Scientists now estimate that humans are taking from the natural world at a rate 1/3 greater than the replenishment rate.
If this is so, then the show is going to be over much much sooner than we can imagine. Why just yesterday we learned that South Korea is going to be planting
a portion of Madagascar the size of Connecticut in crops (corn?). This only accelerates the ruin of the unique biome of the island, which at any rate is rapidly dwindling because of Madagascaran's overuse of and destruction of their unique environment.
To paraphrase a comment that Buffett borrowed in an article, "If something cannot go on, it will stop."
From Fort Worth, TX, 11/21/2008
I welcome the selection. But, if he went along with Bernanke and Paulson to refuse to help out Lehman Bros, then his judgement is questioned. Isn't the fall of Lehman behind the sudden domino falls of financial institutions? Moreover, the bailout is badly structured in that it is just a cover to inject money to banks (from people associated with financial industry) and keep those institutions afloat without any structural changes in how they do business. Now, everybody wants to be a 'bank' to get a piece of pie.
Additionally, the selection of most of Clinton era people by president elect really throws a cold towel in my hopes placed on him by my vote. Many are saying that these are experienced and young people. Well, what did Clinton do? Did he go back to Carter or Johnson era people? He picked new faces and made great contributions. Not that these people are without qualifications - but, it is too bad that president elect is not encouraging creativity, young and fresh talents to shine? It is more like 'old wine in a new bottle' - rather than 'Change'! My hopes are getting dashed. Please, Mr. President Elect - nurture and seek out fresh talents - they need breaks!
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.