Here we go TARPing again to nowhere
Business Times - 13 Feb 2009 Here we go TARPing again to nowhere For markets, it may be safe to assume that Washington hasn't found a way to fix the mess By LEON HADAR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT I WOULD not be surprised if a new term, 'Geithnerism', is soon going to be used by lawmakers and investors. Named after US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, it could become shorthand for the response from an underwhelmed Capitol Hill and a jaded Wall Street to another of the many efforts by Washington to restore calm and generate confidence in the financial market: a sort of 'Here we go TARPing again to nowhere'. This sentiment would exactly characterise the reactions to the Obama administration's 'much anticipated' and 'long awaited' revamped Financial Stability Plan to tackle the still-unfolding financial crisis announced by Mr Geithner in the ornate Cash Room of the Treasury Department earlier this week. 'This is a dangerous dynamic, and we need to ar...