How much of this can you actually believe??? Reminds me of just a few years ago when bubble Ben bernanke annouced the housing market was stabalizing and that there was no need to have any worries about the economy moving forward. These guys are funny, how many actually believe this situation. Made for a great laugh tonight. No Double-Dip Slump but Recovery Slow: Geithner Reuters | February 07, 2010 | 10:58 PM EST The risk the U.S. economy will slip back into recession is lower now than at any time in the past year, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Sunday, while conceding that recovery will be slow and uneven. In an interview on ABC News' "This Week," Geithner dismissed concerns that rising U.S. indebtedness might put pressure on the United States' prized triple-A credit rating. Credit ratings agency Moody's last week warned that anemic U.S. growth, on top of already stretched government finances, could put pressure on the country triple-A status. "Absolutely not," Geithner said when the interviewer suggested rising debt levels could put pressure on the top-notch rating. "That will never happen to this country." The U.S. economy expanded at an annual rate of nearly 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 and Geithner said it_ was definitely "healing" after the financial crisis that drove it into recession in late 2007. "This is going to take a while and it's going to be uneven," Geithner said in an interview taped before leaving for the Canadian Arctic on Friday to attend a meeting of Group of Seven rich nations' finance ministers and central bankers in Iqaluit, capital of the vast Inuit territory of Nunavut. ABC released portions of the Geithner transcript on Friday. Geithner claimed there were even some encouraging signs in Friday's report on U.S. unemployment for January, which showed another 20,000 jobs lost but a dip in the unemployment rate to 9.7 percent from 10 percent in December. He said the Obama administration is doing everything it can to enhance recovery prospects and played down chances that growth might stall and push the United States back into recession. "I think we have much, much lower risk of that today than at any time over the last 12 months or so," Geithner said. Borrowing Money to Fund Deficit The U.S. Treasury is heavily reliant on borrowed money to fund the government's day-to-day operations, which it raises by selling Treasury notes and bonds throughout the world in rising volumes to fund budget deficits that are forecast to hit $1.6 trillion in fiscal 2011. Geithner said there was no sign that investor interest was waning in U.S. debt, adding that, to the contrary, it was sought out because of trust in the U.S. ability to repay. "If you step back and look at what has happened throughout this crisis, when people were most worried about the stability of the world, they still found safety in (U.S.) Treasuries and the dollar," he said. "You're still seeing that every time." Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the_ ability by the U.S. to borrow money would become more difficult because "throughout history we have always maintained a capital cushion, a cushion between our borrowing capacity on the one hand and the level of debt on the other. That is beginning to shrink." He said history had also shown that when great economic powers faced significant fiscal problems, they ceased to be great powers, noting that such a development would have implications for the U.S dollar as the world's dominant reserve currency. Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson told NBC's "Meet the Press" that reducing the federal budget deficit posed "the most serious long-term challenge" to the United States. He also said he realized as Treasury secretary it was tough to convince lawmakers to tackle controversial issues without a crisis.
"Absolutely not," Geithner said when the interviewer suggested rising debt levels could put pressure on the top-notch rating. "That will never happen to this country." I'm not really concerned what the ratings agencies say, but that is an ignorant, stupid fucking statement to make. Geithner is a tool and a hack and needs to go.
I think this is the most shocking thing about the article: ... before leaving for the Canadian Arctic on Friday to attend a meeting of Group of Seven rich nations' finance ministers and central bankers in Iqaluit, capital of the vast Inuit territory of Nunavut. Who the hell books a meeting in Nunavut in the middle of winter?
To âsolveâ the Asian debt crisis, the fed/govt âcame to rescueâ in the late 90s when Russia defaulted/LTCMgmt failed/Asian debt crisis by flooding the world with cheap money, that great abundance of cheap money caused the tech bubble which crashed far worse than the Asian crisis. To âsolveâ the tech crash, the fed/govt âcame to rescueâ again by flooding the world with cheap money and created the housing bubble which crashed even worse than the tech bubble. Now to âsolveâ the housing crash, the fed/govt is âcoming to rescueâ again by flooding the world with cheap money on totally unprecedented level. Anyone see a patternâ¦. Gee I wonder what is going to happen nextâ¦.
Thats what I have been stating all along, all the fed seems to do is create bubbles to get out of whatever recession we get into, the problem with that is that they never let the free markets take control, there is always some kind of intervention and this time again they are back with historical low interest rates and unlimited amounts of worthless dollars propping up the entire system, why anyone doesn't understand that they are doing more harm than good is beyond me.
For politicos, "a problem postponed is a problem solved"... doesn't matter if it's made bigger/worse, just so long as its recognition and having to deal with it is "later"..
Of course they say everything is OK, they are politicians. Even Castro in bankrupt cuba, says everything is OK. After 50+ years of poverty.