tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31671374.post7272620811952224833..comments2023-10-30T07:10:34.610-07:00Comments on Underbelly: An Invitation to DeLongBucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16452321114185736762noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31671374.post-27213722134823111352011-04-01T10:34:43.674-07:002011-04-01T10:34:43.674-07:00Batting .500?
Treasury succeeds when its actions ...Batting .500?<br /><br />Treasury succeeds when its actions result in higher bonuses for bankers. It fails when the bankers want it to fail. <br /> <br />In other words, Treasury bats 1.000 when facing the political equivalent of the Little Sisters of Mercy, and .000 when facing Major League pitching. Color me unimpressed.Ebenezer Scroogenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31671374.post-25042282263032086962011-03-31T19:14:50.284-07:002011-03-31T19:14:50.284-07:00"Tim Geithner and company did not set out to ..."Tim Geithner and company did not set out to make HAMP a failure, or the PPIP a failure, or financial reform a limited success."<br /><br />I admire the optimism. And you played part of the inside game, so at the margin I would give the benefit of the doubt.<br /><br />Except, as Buce notes, Neil B's evaluation matches mine and, to a large extent, his own. So we're not really at the margin right now. And Geithner's reports against the HAMP results is damning at best.<br /><br />Certainly, the bailout of GM is a win. But defining "the non-mortgage part of TARP" as a win veers dangerously close to "with a few notable exceptions" territory.<br /><br />It would be a very generous official scorer who would leave Treasury with a .500 average.Ken Houghtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01440837287933536370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31671374.post-21460640153825849622011-03-31T17:50:57.551-07:002011-03-31T17:50:57.551-07:00It's not Treasury's fault that Congress ca...It's not Treasury's fault that Congress came close to neutering financial reform. And actually doing something that is not prohibitively expensive to the mortgage market to improve it is much harder than saying that something should be done.<br /><br />Tim Geithner and company did not set out to make HAMP a failure, or the PPIP a failure, or financial reform a limited success. And the auto bailout, the non-mortgage part of the TARP, and the stress tests count as solid wins.<br /><br />So at the least Treasury is batting .500...bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04548019979157668776noreply@blogger.com