WASHINGTON — Virtually unknown outside financial circles, Timothy Geithner suddenly is the man at every crisis point in the economy.
As Barack Obama’s pick to be Treasury secretary, Geithner is serving as a chief economic adviser to the president-elect and will shape the new administration’s strategy to cure the country’s deep economic woes. But he already is helping lead the battle at the Federal Reserve — and with the Bush administration.
Geithner wears different hats.
He straddles the administrations of two presidents, and intervenes in the economy on behalf of both. Through Geithner, Obama has a historically unique opportunity to make an imprint even before he is president.
Still, Geithner must tread gingerly.
“He needs to be careful and gauge his response,” said Anthony Sabino, a professor of law and business at St. John’s University in New York.
“He needs to be hands-on between now and the end of the Bush administration. But he can’t squeeze. He needs to be involved, but he can’t push too hard. It is a nuanced dance.”
With the country believed to be sinking ever deeper into recession, Obama isn’t wasting any time during the transition. He’s assembled his economic team — led by Geithner — and is already working on crafting economic initiatives that some Democrats estimate at $500 billion to $700 billion to send to Congress in January.
As president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Geithner has taken an activist, interventionist approach to battling the financial crisis. And he has figured prominently in the creation of a raft of innovative new programs to get banks to lend more freely, a crucial effort to break the nation’s debilitating credit clog. One day after Geithner was tapped to be Obama’s Treasury secretary, the Fed announced two new programs to provide $800 billion toward unlocking the lending process.
Some people caution against interpreting Geithner’s selection as meaning that Obama endorses those steps.
Many predict Geithner — widely expected to be confirmed by the Democratic Senate as Treasury secretary — may push harder for new government interventions to ease financial stresses once he is in office. That’s consistent with his activist approach.
“The whole transition issue is fascinating,” said Brian Sack, a former Federal Reserve economist now at Macroeconomic Advisers. “He is in the middle of that. It’s a wonder how he managed to perform the job even wearing one hat.”
Timothy F. Geithner file
Born: Aug. 18, 1961, New York
Experience: Kissinger Associates, 1985-88; assistant financial attache at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, assistant secretary and senior deputy assistant secretary for international affairs, U.S. Department of Treasury, 1988-98; Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, 1998-2001; director of the policy development and review department of the International Monetary Fund, 2001-2003; senior fellow in international economics, Council on Foreign Relations, February to August 2001; chief executive, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2003-present
Education: B.A. in government and Asian studies, Dartmouth College, 1983; M.A. in international economics and East Asian studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, 1985
Family: Wife, Carole Sonnenfeld Geithner; two children
New York Times file photo
