Tim Geithner's Annotated Exit Interview: "F--- The Banks" And Other Pearls
Today is Tim Geithner's last day as Treasury Secretary. Below are some quotes from various exit interviews and recaps conducted with the former NY Fed president. We provide our succinct annotations to some of his answers.
On the bank bailout:
“To save an economy from a failing financial system, you have to do things that are going to be fundamentally impossible to explain to people,” Geithner said. “You’re going to look like you’re giving money to people who were responsible for burning down the economy.”
He is correct - the people who "burned down the economy" have received over $2 trillion in money since the great financial crisis began courtesy of the Fed...
... and continue to receive $85 billion each month in gratitude for their hard work:
* * *
“F--- the banks,”:
One episode recalls how Geithner, widely thought to be a friend of the financial industry, reacted to concerns of banks protesting Obama’s push for new rules for Wall Street. “F--- the banks,” he said, according to people familiar with the episode.
Another solid dose of the hypocrisy we have all grown to love and expect coming from the man who purposefully leaked material, non-public information to the banks ahead of the critical August 2007 Fed action, upon which the banks subsequently acted as we first reported:
MR. LACKER. If I could just follow up on that, Mr. Chairman.
CHAIRMAN BERNANKE. Yes, go ahead.
MR. LACKER. Vice Chairman Geithner, did you say that [the banks] are unaware of what we’re considering or what we might be doing with the discount rate?
VICE CHAIRMAN GEITHNER. Yes.
MR. LACKER. Vice Chairman Geithner, I spoke with Ken Lewis, President and CEO of Bank of America, this afternoon, and he said that he appreciated what Tim Geithner was arranging by way of changes in the discount facility. So my information is different from that.
CHAIRMAN BERNANKE. Okay. Thank you. Go ahead, Vice Chairman Geithner.
VICE CHAIRMAN GEITHNER. Well, I cannot speak for Ken Lewis, but I think they have sought to see whether they could understand a little more clearly the scope of their rights and our current policy with respect to the window. The only thing I’ve done is to try to help them understand—and I’m sure that’s been true across the System—what the scope of that is because these people generally don’t use the window and they don’t really understand in some sense what it’s about.
F--- the banks indeed... But not before we give them a few [_]illion dollars in funding.
* * *
On rewriting the nation’s financial rules:
Early in the process, during a meeting with Obama at the White House, Jamie Dimon, the chief of executive of JPMorgan Chase, made an offer to come with other bankers to Treasury to help develop the broad framework for how to tighten oversight of Wall Street. Geithner declined. Dimon followed up. Geithner declined again. Dimon grew frustrated and complained personally to Obama and others in the White House that Geithner was being unhelpful, according to people familiar with the matter.
“Whiners”:
To his colleagues, the Treasury secretary described bankers who relentlessly protested the new regulations as “whiners” and, in routine meetings with top chief executives held at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, he often told them they should stop fighting regulation.
That at least is the spin. Here are the facts as presented by Dallas Fed president Dick Fisher:
As of third quarter 2012, there were approximately 5,600 commercial banking organizations in the U.S. The bulk of these—roughly 5,500—were community banks with assets of less than $10 billion. These community-focused organizations accounted for 98.6 percent of all banks but only 12 percent of total industry assets. Another group numbering nearly 70 banking organizations—with assets of between $10 billion and $250 billion—accounted for 1.2 percent of banks, while controlling 19 percent of industry assets. The remaining group, the megabanks—with assets of between $250 billion and $2.3 trillion—was made up of a mere 12 institutions. These dozen behemoths accounted for roughly 0.2 percent of all banks, but they held 69 percent of industry assets.
In simple terms: total bank assets: $13 trillion; 69% of that is $9 trillion. So 12 banks, among which the very much "complaining" Jamie Dimon, and other "whiners" control $9 trillion. And that is how TBTF became TBTFest. But at least they are whining.
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And last but not least:
What’s next?
“I have no idea what I’m going to do,” Geithner said. “For all my professional life, I’ve made basically one choice about what kind of work I want to do. And the reasons that led me to that are very powerful and are very enduring.”
Will Geithner be the next Fed chairman:
“Not a chance,” he said. “I have great respect for the institution, but that will be someone else's privilege.”
Instead of commenting, we will merely post Geithner's assessment of America's downgrade risk 4 months before it was downgraded.
Sources: Washington Post, Politico
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I think Timmy likes to be "hit" in the ass-you know those East Coast Ivy league elites and their English predilections
Oh to be able to hit him with my baseball bat on the way out.....
"We had our words, a common spat
So I kissed him upside the cranium
with an aluminum baseball bat
My name is Mud"
Good one. Have a pork soda on me!
http://www.tnr.com/print/blog/112152/timothy-geithners-exit-interview
LA: One of the ways that people have figured out in the past to reconcile the politics was to go populist. That was what Roosevelt did. You, on the other hand, had been resolutely against that. You refer to it as Old Testament justice, implying that while it may be emotionally satisfying, it doesn’t serve any purpose.
TG: I never used that phrase as a pejorative description. I just used it as a simple shorthand to refer to the understandable need people had for justice. But the President didn’t ask me to come do this to be the architect of a political strategy. I never felt that was my thing. I had some views on the issue, but I didn’t give them much weight. I thought my job was to figure out the financial parts.
Hmmm...Old Testament justice would have worked for me.
We now know Lanny Breuerwas not all that interested in justice either. The SEC, nope. Hello, Barak, anyone home? (I know the answer to that)
Pete
Wait, this is real? I initially read it as satire!
Just ask Egan Jones about the US downgraded Credit rating. I bet they don't have much more to say....
Kind of like dropping the soap at your friendly federal penitentiary prison shower fest. Oops!
Gov Mob rules
They should just go full-retard, and relocate their offices to Moscow. Then the fun could really get going!
I have an idea what he can do...but he probably won't like it too much...
you never know...maybe he likes toilet brushes
He has a future as a process wonk that infest the American corporate landscape. All flowchart, no value.
Rat BASTARD.
Beavis, bitchez!
That bitch even smiles like a rat. Just needs some whiskers.
It would be awesome if he'd jump off a bridge next.
Hard to think of a more despicable creature than this fucking prick. I hope he dies a horrible painful death
Krugman. There. It wasn't that hard. ;-)
Krugman's a worhless piece of shit who talks too much, but has no real power.
Geithner is a crooked crone of the highest order, brokering power in the form of fiat for the oligarchy.
One is simply intellectually abominable, the other same, but with the ability to dole out wealth to the owners.
I'd rather have ten Krugmans. I can ignore them.
Yeah, but without tools like Krugspam, Timmah would have little room to operate.
Don't discount the facade-makers. As without them, the rest cannot help but be seen standing naked while looking extremely silly.
Never discount the value of the "intellectual" cover provided by people like Krugman. These secular statist supporting intellectuals are the modern day version of the priestly class in the Throne Altar duopoly of power.
how come all I ever see is a sixth grader who needs his ass kicked?
won't you believe it
it's just my luck
no recess
Nirvana ~ School
I swear, this was playing as I read your post. . . synchronicity, shared.
oh, and once again ZH, exquisitely placed rat-fink-pic.
=^,,^=
Timmy has learned from his mistakes and has exciting career opportunities ahead...
http://www.hrblock.com/career/index.html
Every time Timmah sounded agitated at "banks", realize it was lip service for the masses released by the redshields(Reuters). That is all.
Timmy I can't understand you with Jamie's cock in your mouth
you forgot my favorite: "mom said I'm the smartest one in the class"
and who could forget: "how come I hear dad's car before anyone else?"
and the ever romantic: "meet me in the sach"
"We (central banker stooge wannabies) are not really different than chimpanzees on patrol, protecting the troop. Come into our territory and we will rip off your face or bite off your genitals. It's very simple and rather elegant, if you think about it" - Timmay exit interview
when it comes to the banks the treasury is the fuck-ee not the fuck-er
“To save an economy from a failing financial system, you have to do things that are going to be fundamentally impossible to explain to people,” Geithner said. “You’re going to look like you’re giving money to people who were responsible for burning down the economy.”
Yeah well, giving money to your buddies in the finance industry who burned down the economy does look a lot like "giving money to people who were responsible for burning down the economy".
If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, that's because it's a duck
I know fraud when I see it.
And floats like a witch.
If justice were truly served he would not make it through the next railroad crossing.
All is well China joining the gold ETF orgy
China's securities regulator published provisional rules for the operation of gold exchange-traded funds (ETF) on Friday, paving the way for introducing such business into the country's financial market.
Well, at least they've got an avenue setup to profit from all the tungsten they've gotten from the Comex.
I wonder, at some point will the amount of paper claims on gold be fully balanced by the supply inflation caused by tungsten, ushering in a de facto gold/tungsten standard?
Stupid, worthless, no good, goddamn, freeloading son of a bitch. Retarded, big mouth, know-it-all, asshole, jerk.
(You forgot ugly, lazy and disrespectful)
SHUT THE FUCK UP TIM AND GET ME A 1TRILLION DOLLAR BAILOUT!
Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?
Did I stutter?
also fuck you TIMMAY!
I expected more out of a varsity athlete. Hey ahab, can I bum my doobage
Timothy, you've got to be number one! I won't tolerate any losers in this family...Your intensity is for shit! Win. Win! WIN!!!
you'll have to ride in the backseat because his nuts will have to ride shotgun.
That's the last time, Timmy. That's the last time you ever make me look bad in front of those kids, you hear me? I make $31,000,000 a year and I have a home and I'm not about to throw it all away on some punk like you. But someday when you're outta here and you've forgotten all about this place and they've forgotten all about you, and you're wrapped up in your own pathetic life, I'm gonna be there. That's right. And I'm gonna kick the living shit out of you. I'm gonna knock your dick in the dirt.
He better hope I don't see him in the poor little world.
No Tim, FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!
The next crisis must be right around the corner.
This way our new Treausury Sec. can flippantly declare it's not his fault, he just got there. Same thing when Bernanke became FED chairman at the height of the credit bubble on February 1, 2006.
It's just part of the game so that no one is held responsible...ever
I bet his wife fucks the mexican gardener while Timmeh plays Farmville. Deep down inside Tim knows he is an errand boy, a shill, never going to be a big dog.
Geithner, like a good banker-controlled government puppet full of confidence and sneers the same as most crooks, is following script better than a Louis L’Amour outlaw in The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon – all media staged for the sheeple’s envy and indoctrination:
“Once you become an outlaw, a lot of things will change. You’ll have to kill, too. It’s one thing to kill in defense of your home, your family, or your country. It’s another thing when you kill for money or for power…
“It means power and money – all a man could want. If it is doubt about the future for outlaws that disturbs you, don’t let it. From now on it will be political connections and bribes, but with the money you’ll have to work with that should be easy.”
yes, it does seem like Timmah is trying extremely hard to imply a conscience to cover his ass. what you must ask yourself is why is he bothering to do that?
Plausible Deniability, FTMFW!
Meanwhile, I just laugh everytime someone talks about politicians and their minions being held accountable "by the people" via VOTING.
Then I turn to the most pressing question in my mind about how to deal wiith this... Crack or meth?
When i look at his picture, i think of Lance Armstrong.
Nice teeth. Bullish for P&G, Makers of Crest and other fine products
http://www.pg.com/en_US/brands/beauty_grooming/crest.shtml