The US economy (and the world economy, for that matter) is like a patient with cancer, blood loss, blunt force trauma and third degree burns. It looks bad, and it's not likely to get better any time soon.
In a situation like this it's natural to blame the doctor if the patient gets worse or fails to get better, which is why they make you sign all those forms when you check in. And our metaphorical doctor here is Tim "deer in the headlights" Geithner. The patient is still on life support, and we're furious at the doctor. We want to replace him.
I don't think so. Neither does the market, today. Geithner unveiled the long-delayed details of his plan to pair with private investors to value toxic assets; the market responded by gaining over 400 points at this writing. But the market will drop again, and we'll still have Geithner.
If we replace him we'll have another doctor, but the same shakey patient. I'm coming to believe that there is no sense in swapping out Mr. G for another guy. A guy who will have to start from scratch. We need to have a little patience, and just hope that Geithner isn't as bad for the economy as Rumsfeld was for the war.
Giethner is to this economy as Brownie was to Katrina.
ReplyDeleteGWK reminded me of the perfect joke for why keeping Timmy is a bad idea:
ReplyDeleteYou know what you call the guy who graduated last in his medical school class?
Doctor.
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ReplyDeleteYou need to remind your pals on the extreme left of your position, not those on the right. Only yesterday Kos Twittered against Geithner.
ReplyDelete(Sorry, deleted the other comment because of a major misspelling)