Posted on 03/25/2009 12:11:24 PM PDT by Schnucki
Investors are taking their cues from the amateurs they put in the White House. The relationship between Barack Obama and Tim Geithner, his Treasury secretary, is looking increasingly frayed. For the second time this month, the president and his economic team have contradicted each other. Confidence in markets is everything. See if you can spot how uninspiring this is:
Tuesday March 24. At a press conference Barack Obama responds to a question about how "senior Chinese officials have publicly expressed an interest in [an] international currency". The questioner is asking if we have enough confidence in the dollar for it to continue as the preferred currency of choice in which to hold the world's reserves. An alternative is an amalgam of the euro, yen, pound and dollar administered by the International Monetary Fund.
Obama responds: "I don't believe that there's a need for a global currency."
Wednesday March 25. From the New York Times: "The dollar plunged earlier in the morning after Mr Geithner, in response to another question, said China's suggestion [for a reserve currency other than the dollar] 'deserves some consideration'."
Later, the Treasury secretary, after watching the dollar tumble, said that the currency would remain the world's dominant reserve currency for some time to come, a move the New York Times charitably said was "clarifying earlier remarks".
What is missing from this account is the telephone call that took place between Geithner's two statements. The censored version at least would involve the president screaming: "Tim. You said WHAT?"
It's hard to believe that Geithner could contradict his boss within a few hours. A sure way to a pink slip, as they say in the US. (British readers are more familiar with a P45.)
But perhaps Geithner was only getting his own back for the economic team's bold
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.telegraph.co.uk ...
Seperated at birth? Twin brothers from different mothers? Perfect picture. Who knew?
I sure hope this means that it’s firing time at the Fed.
Geithner was basically asked, is the dollar history and should the rest of the world switch to something of value?
His answer, maybe. Then he acts surprised that the dollar started losing even more value.
I just HAD to do some photoshopping:
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.