Tim Geithner has agreed to President Obama’s request to stay on as Treasury Secretary through the Fall of 2012. It may not be a popular thing to say. And in its own way it may amount to faint or not quite voluble praise. But it is difficult not to conclude that Geithner has had the most challenging tenure as Treasury Secretary as anyone since World War II, quite possibly as anyone since the mid-1930s, seventy-five years ago. (Next up after him is likely Hank Paulson, his immediate predecessor.) Read More
What are the odds you figure that Senate Republicans would have demanded another round of entitlement or discretionary spending cuts in exchanging for approving another Treasury Secretary?
Herman Cain takes weeklong hammering from conservatives over apology to American Muslims.
Landfill gas will power the nation’s first “Green Marine Corps” base, the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, near San Diego.
Krugman makes a pretty decent point about the aftermath of the S&P downgrade. If the markets were heeding that message you’d expect the rates the US has to pay to borrow money would be rising, as it became harder to convince investors that owning US debt is essential risk free. But the reverse is happening so far today: the rate has dropped pretty consistently through the day. In other words, the reaction to market volatility seems to be for people to rush and buy treasuries.
Now, speaking as a non-economist, I’m not so wedded to the idea of market rationality that I think you can’t have a lot of market instability triggered by the downgrade and simultaneously have investors reacting to the instability by buying up US debt. But that’s just me. In any case, it does suggest that in general investors have not put much stock in the S&P’s judgment.
Gallup: Obama’s approval ratings perking up in crucial election states over the course of the last year.
Watch Live: Obama speaking at 1pm 1:30 PM on the aftermath of S&P downgrade.
Late Update: Now pushed back to 1:30 PM.
So just what was that $2 trillion error S&P made in its analysis of US creditworthiness? We explain.