Economists Give Obama an “F”

| 11 March 2009 20:18

I give Obama high marks for much of what he has accomplished in such a short span and the tone he has set. However, on the economic policy front, there have been lapses. This video suggests there have been many.

Related article
Obama, Geithner Get Low Grades From Economists – WSJ

avatar About Edward Harrison

Edward Harrison is the founder of Credit Writedowns and a former career diplomat, investment banker and technology executive with over twenty years of business experience. He is also a regular economic and financial commentator on BBC World News, CNBC Television, Business News Network, CBC, Fox Television and RT Television. He speaks six languages, a skill he uses to provide a more global perspective. Edward holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia University and a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College.

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3 Comments

  1. avatar Ranger Turtle says:
    12 March 2009 at 11:35

    Well, I don’t agree with “many”, but I have to agree that Secty. Geithner hasn’t instilled confidence in Wall Street. But then again, Wall Street’s bad behavior hasn’t instilled confidence in Main Street.
    The economist opinions quoted in the video say that “half think that…”; well I still think the Fed/FDIC/Treas collective plan will help us better than an economists’ pole. If a significant majority of the poled economists thought that we were definitely on the wrong course, I would be worried.
    Better PR from the Treasury (with Obama help) could help all concerned, even calm a few economist.
    As far as not seeing much improvement, I believe that even a whopper stimulus plan takes more that a couple of months to show improvement. Also, I’m not sure that the people really understand how much trouble we are in, how long it took to get here, and of course, that it’ll take a long time to recover.

    Thanks for being here!

  2. avatar Edward Harrison says:
    12 March 2009 at 11:41

    Ranger Turtle,

    The first thing that needs to be done is to give Geithner a supporting cast. The guy has no help at Treasury because America makes many top posts reserved for political appointees. This irks me because I used to be a diplomat and one reason I left the core is because of the lack of high level positions for foreign service officers.

    Obama has said that he intends to increase the number of civil servants at top positions at State and I reckon it is the same at Treasury. But, Geithner is dangling in the wind. See Buiter’s write up on this:

    http://blogs.ft.com/maverecon/2009/03/to-the-victor-go-the-spoils-who-answers-the-phone-in-the-us-treasury/

    Yes, Geithner has not gotten it done, but he has had zero help. Obviously, I have attacked the plans I find lacking in this Administration — sometimes vehemently. Nevertheless, I recognize the constraints.

  3. avatar Ranger Turtle says:
    12 March 2009 at 12:37

    Thanks for the URL. We really need to get our civil service beefed up.