“Regulation cannot produce integrity.”
— Tim Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in a speech at the Economic Club of New York in June. Barack Obama’s choice of Geithner as U.S. Treasury Secretary sent the Dow up 397 points today. Geithner has called for regulatory reform and systematic overhaul, but in his new role, he’ll apparently seek an economic culture change too. In this June speech, he insisted that it’s up to boards and shareholders to ensure that financial institutions are managed with foresight and judgment.
Despite his relative youth, the 47-year-old has loads of experience. He was an aide to both Bob Rubin and Larry Summers, who were Treasury Secretaries in the Clinton administration. (Summers was a top candidate to lead Treasury, but Obama chose him to head the National Economic Council instead.) And most critically, Geithner was deeply involved in formulating the $700 billion bailout and in keeping the various crises–from Bear Stearns to Lehman Brothers to AIG –from melting the global economy. – Jessica Shambora
