Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner went on the Sunday news shows today and the effect was to restore confidence in the future of the American economy, after an early sense that he might not be the right person to lead the effort to revive the economy.
Basically a shy person, Geithner came across this weekend as a person who was finally communicating better the plans of the Obama Administration to restore the economy. He made it clear that the only answer was to have an activist government that does more, rather than less, to resolve the economic mess left to the new government leaders upon taking power in January.Â
Geithner said expecting the private sector to resolve the issues at hand would not work, and that whatever had to be done would be pursued by the government in the coming months. I have always believed that this is the right, if not popular, strategy. Even if a portion of the American population has its doubts, and even if talk radio and the opposition party disagree, this is the only alternative to avoid long range suffering for the rapidly growing number of people who are losing jobs and homes, as well as to restore the banking and auto industries.