Geithner wasn't the Treasury Secretary in 2007-8. TARP was pushed by Bush and Paulson. So was the auto bailout. I don't consider the handling of the fiscal crisis to be masterful. It is just more kicking the can down the road and bailing out the big banks and insurance companies. Instead of being held accountable, the taxpayer picked up the tab. The huge Porkulus bill and increased spending has led to an additional $6 trillion being added to the national debt in four years. We will pay a fearful price for this "masterful handling" of the fiscal crisis.
The Fed has exceeded its authority and is operating without the proper oversight and control. Holding interest rates artificially low is helping to debase our currency and will eventually lead to the rest of world going to a different reserve currency. Once that happens, Goodbye USA, Hello Weimar Republic.
I never said Geithner was Sec Tres. He was head of the NY Fed and was instrumental in arranging the "marriages" of many of the banks. He worked extremely closely with Paulson and was part of the team to come up with TARP.
So was the auto bailout.
Never said I agreed with the auto bailout...
It is just more kicking the can down the road and bailing out the big banks and insurance companies. Instead of being held accountable, the taxpayer picked up the tab.
you do realize that if the government had let all the banks and insurance companies go the "Great Recession" would have been thousands of times worse right? The impact of the huge amount of derivatives would have wiped out many trillions more of wealth (of you and me not just banks) and the global economy would have completely collapsed. Credit markets would have frozen for years. It would have made the Great Depression look like a mild dip. Oh and the vast majority of TARP finds have been repaid.
The huge Porkulus bill and increased spending has led to an additional $6 trillion being added to the national debt in four years. We will pay a fearful price for this "masterful handling" of the fiscal crisis.
Again this was Obama and Congress not Bernanke and Geithner and I agree that the Porkulus bill was a disaster.
Holding interest rates artificially low is helping to debase our currency and will eventually lead to the rest of world going to a different reserve currency.
We are still in a very slow recovery so low rates is the proper mechanism. Raising rates now would choke off what little growth their is and make the fiscal situation worse. It is interesting that despite the "massive debt problem" that the "flight to safety" remains UST's...