- Al Jazeera
- AlterNet
- Angry Bear
- BBC World
- Brad DeLong
- Calculated Risk
- Corporate Crime Reporter
- Credit Writedowns
- Crossing Wall Street
- Danny Schecter
- Dean Baker
- Econbrowser
- Economic Outlook Group
- FactCheck.org
- Felix Salmon
- FiveThirtyEight (Nate Silver)
- Interfluidity
- Maureen Dowd
- Media Matters for America
- Mish
- Naked Capitalism
- Nouriel Roubini
- OpenSecrets Blog
- PolitiFact
- Pragmatic Capitalism
- Project Syndicate
- Real Clear Politics
- Republic Report
- Roosevelt Institute
- Salon
- Seeking Alpha
- Talking Points Memo
- The Big Picture (Barry Ritholtz)
- The Business Insider
- The Reformed Broker (Josh Brown)
- Truthdig
- VoteVets.org
- December 2023
- January 2023
- December 2021
- December 2020
- December 2019
- December 2018
- December 2017
- September 2017
- December 2016
- September 2016
- March 2016
- October 2015
- July 2015
- January 2015
- May 2014
- February 2014
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
Tip Jar
Stock Market
Blogroll
Archives
About TheCenterLane.com
TheCenterLane.com offers opinion, news and commentary on politics, the economy, finance and other random events that either find their way into the news or are ignored by the news reporting business. As the name suggests, our focus will be on what seems to be happening in The Center Lane of American politics and what the view from the Center reveals about the events in the left and right lanes. Your Host, John T. Burke, Jr., earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College with a double major in Speech Communications and Philosophy. He earned his law degree (Juris Doctor) from the Illinois Institute of Technology / Chicago-Kent College of Law.
© 2024 TheCenterLane.com
proSlate Theme by Pro WP Themes
More Super Powers For Turbo Tim
February 18, 2010
I shouldn’t have been shocked when I read about this. It’s just that it makes no sense at all and it’s actually scary — for a number of reasons. On Wednesday, February 17, Sewell Chan broke the story for The New York Times:
They’re going to put “Turbo” Tim Geithner in charge of the council that regulates systemic risk in the banking system? Let the pushback begin! The first published reaction to this news (that I saw) came from Tom Lindmark at the iStockAnalyst.com website:
Lindmark’s beef was not based on any personal opinion about the appointment of Tim Geithner himself to such a role. Mr. Lindmark’s opinion simply reflects his disgust at the idea of putting a political appointee at the head of such a committee:
So there you have reason number one: Nothing personal — just bad policy.
I can’t wait to hear the responses from some of my favorite gurus from the world of finance. How about John Hussman — president of the investment advisory firm that manages the Hussman Funds? One day before the story broke concerning our new systemic risk regulator, this statement appeared in the Weekly Market Comment by Dr. Hussman:
What better qualification could one have for sitting at the helm of the systemic risk council? Choose one of the guys who bypassed Congressional authority to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with the taxpayers’ money! If Geithner is actually appointed to chair this council, you can expect an interesting response from Dr. Hussman.
Jeremy Grantham should have plenty to rant about concerning this nomination. As chairman of GMO, Mr. Grantham is responsible for managing over $107 billion of his clients’ hard-inherited money. Consider what he said about Geithner’s performance as president of the New York Fed during the months leading up to the financial crisis:
Mr. Grantham should hardly be pleased to hear about our Treasury Secretary’s new role, regulating systemic risk.
The coming days should provide some entertaining diatribes along the lines of: “You’ve got to be kidding!” in response to this news. I’m looking forward to it!