The New Republic

We asked Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, to assess Tim Geithner's rescue plan for the financial sector today. (Noam Scheiber already weighed in for us here.) What follows is a condensed version of our conversation. READ MORE >>

Pressed in his briefing about why Daschle and Killefer would have to go--but not Tim Geithner--Robert Gibbs' answer, more or less, is that Geithner has already been confirmed and sworn in. He also says flatly that the White House did not send Daschle a signal that he had to go, and the decision was his alone. --Michael Crowley READ MORE >>

Hillary lunches with Geithner today. Likely agenda item--China: In comments that also indicated her interest in taking a leading role on relations with China, Mrs Clinton faulted the Bush administration for its approach, which was largely left in the hands of Hank Paulson, the former Treasury secretary. READ MORE >>

I have a piece out today about the subtle ways Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has positioned his department to exert serious influence, despite what you've heard about Larry Summers, the top White House economic aide, dominating the policy landscape. READ MORE >>

I come not to praise Tim Geithner, but ... It's still too early to say he's changed the tone of the D.C.-Wall Street relationship. However--a few days ago Citigroup announced that, despite its multiple bailouts from the federal government, it was going ahead with plans to buy a $50 million corporate jet. That's a lot of coin, even for a corporate jet, and it was a clear challenge to Geithner's Treasury. Former Secretary Paulson and his staff would have waited to read the public response; if the media had splashed the news on Page 1, they might have acted. READ MORE >>

Tim Geithner has always won people over with his humble, self-effacing style--even people not necessarily disposed to like him. In my profile of him last fall, I described how he once even offered to trade parking spaces with an older Treasury colleague who'd been exiled to an out-of-the-way lot. READ MORE >>

Or maybe he's un-endorsing it. See this mildly amusing exchange between Chuck Grassley and Tim Geithner midway through the latter's confirmation hearing today:* Grassley: Did you use software to prepare your 2001 and 2002 tax returns? Geithner: I did.Grassley: Which brand?Geithner: Before I answer, I would say that this was my fault, not the software's… I used TurboTax perparer. Grassley: Did the software prompt you to pay self-employment taxes on your IMF income? Geithner: Not to my recollection. READ MORE >>

I think Noam's right not to get worked up about Tim Geithner's tax problem. The Geithner problem I'm more worried about has to do with his oversight of Citigroup while helming the New York Fed. READ MORE >>

No question that Geithner's failure to pay payroll taxes on his IMF income was a bone-headed move. But I think the headline of Maureen Dowd's column--"Tim Geithner! Why Are Rich People So Cheap?" gets it pretty wrong. READ MORE >>

I've tried to lay out the reasons why Obama would want Tim Geithner as his Treasury secretary. Now that the day of the big announcement is here, I figured I'd address the "how" of it, too. READ MORE >>