Comments on: Who will be the next Treasury secretary?

By: justsayin2011

justsayin2011 — Sat, 26 May 2012 23:25:58 +0000

Who is the furthest in arrears paying their income tax? That seems to be a major decision point for this particular president. Particularly for someone going into a position involving huge sums of money. At least it is internally consistent. Supreme Court justice without courtroom experience, secretary of treasury who cheated on his taxes for years……..

A refreshing change of pace might be to have someone who can actually lead by example thus obviating the need for a full time propaganda staff to fluff his/her public image.

By: FTI

FTI — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:19:47 +0000

I agree with lknobel that the senior cabinet will need more women. Why not Lael Brainard, who has one of Geitner’s and Summer’s old jobs?

By: lknobel

lknobel — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:01:10 +0000

No mention of Laura Tyson? Particularly if, as expected, Hillary declines to do another stint at State, it would put a woman in one of the most high profile positions. Also make minor history as the first woman in the post.

By: MrRFox

MrRFox — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:49:58 +0000

IMO the best kind of candidate for Treasury Secretary is a former US Attorney with a demonstrated zeal, and record of success, in prosecuting organized crime.

By: Christofurio

Christofurio — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:19:31 +0000

Zoellick thinks for himself, which would cause trouble for him.

In the autumn of 2010, Zoellick called for a new international system of trade finance that would “involve the dollar, the euro, the yen, the pound, and a renminbi that moves toward internationalization and then an open capital account.” He also said this system “should consider employing gold as an international reference point of market expectations about inflation, deflation, and future currency values.”

Much as I would love having an administration in office that thinks like that, I don’t think it would do too much good to have one outlier thinking things like that in an administration that, otherwise, doesn’t.

By: GregHao

GregHao — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:02:56 +0000

Barney Frank may be great at messaging (an interesting point to debate), he is unequipped and largely uninterested in managing the Treasury Department. Being Treasury Secertary is more than just standing behind a podium and talk. There are actual management issues.

By: GregHao

GregHao — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:02:52 +0000

By: VMatheson

VMatheson — Wed, 23 May 2012 23:11:06 +0000

Realist50, there is no doubt that Taylor has great academic credentials, and Hubbard probably has even better ones. But Felix’s point on both of them is that they have been somewhat disingenuous about monetary and fiscal policy ever since Obama was elected. They have been quick to criticize Obama on flimsy evidence while completely failing to call out nonsense coming from the right. Hence the “political hack” label despite their really, really good academic credentials.

By: handleym99

handleym99 — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:51:49 +0000

” But say there’s another Wall Street crisis that requires action on the part of Treasury, and requires someone in that post who understands what action needs to be taken. Is Schmidt that man?”

Isn’t this precisely what we are all complaining about — the expectation on Wall Street that when they screw up, the the Fed will step in and bail them out?

Maybe it would be a GREAT thing to have someone at Treasury who doesn’t see that as his role? If Wall Street see that they don’t have a friend in government, they might not be quite so aggressive in their gambling; and might work a little harder to create a SYSTEM for dealing with problems rather than the current ad hoc hacks we have now.

By: realist50

realist50 — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:15:50 +0000

Is Felix really calling the creator of the Taylor rule a political hack? He’s more accomplished as an academic than anyone else mentioned in this post – arguably more accomplished as an academic than all of them put together. I could understand an argument that Taylor lacks the executive or managerial experience to be Treasury Secretary, and I think that his background is better suited to being a Fed governor.

By: NYEsquire

NYEsquire — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:01:21 +0000

if obama wins it’s gotta be jack lew, doesn’t it? one private sector pick not mentioned is IBM’s palmisano – he’s retiring and has given a couple “big picture” speeches with patriotic rhetoric lately

By: ExaminerCarter

ExaminerCarter — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:28:53 +0000

Tarullo’s a hack. Warsh is significantly better.

By: LA_Banker

LA_Banker — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:45:31 +0000

Doesn’t the Treasury Secretary more or less need to be a financier though, given the outsize influence of Wall Street on the economy and how complex the Street has become? John W. Snow, an industry Fortune 500 CEO, was an absolute deer lost in the headlights. Hank Paulson, for all his faults, at least had some rough idea of what could’ve occurred if Washington didn’t act to stymie the bank failures.

Eric Schmidt would look great from a P.R./optics perspective, and no doubt he’s a smart man. But say there’s another Wall Street crisis that requires action on the part of Treasury, and requires someone in that post who understands what action needs to be taken. Is Schmidt that man?

By: MrRFox

MrRFox — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:40:30 +0000

Does it really make any difference?

It’s not like The Street takes orders from Treasury – more like the other way around, or over Treasury’s head.

By: EpicureanDeal

EpicureanDeal — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:23:41 +0000

Also adding to the tally against Larry Fink: He is an absolutely awful public speaker for such a smart man. Absolutely tongue-tied. We don’t need another one of those in Treasury, especially after Paulson and Geithner. Yeesh.