Ezra Klein does a good job of analyzing the tight spot that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner sits in. Geithner has, on the whole, done a good job despite harsh criticism from both Wall Street and populists on the right and left -- let me throw in obvious caveats about the foreclosure program, which as I wrote this fall has really stalled out (Mike Konczal has a good post on this) and how slow Treasury has been to realize the need for harsher restrictions on the banks. Where I differ from Ezra, though, is the idea that Geithner is less effective because he is unpopular. In the latest poll I could find, from December, those who had an unfavorable view of the Treasury secretary outweighed those who had a favorable view, 33-26, but a plurality of Americans simply didn't know who he was.
In fact, looking down the list of past Treasury secretaries, it's hard to find any that were particularly popular, whatever their accomplishments -- maybe James Baker was well-liked; certainly Alexander Hamilton. In fact, Obama has used Geithner to protect himself, as many in the public blame the Treasury Secretary for unpopular decisions rather than the president. And, as Ezra himself has observed about the president's speech, popularity doesn't get bills passed, and for all the grandstanding at hearings, Geithner and his team are well-respected on the Hill as they push regulatory reform, including the new Volcker rule I wrote up yesterday.
Ezra concedes that replacing Geithner is near impossible, so while it might be nice to have someone popular doing unpopular things, the most we can hope for is that someone unpopular will become more popular as he takes on a more endearing challenge.
-- Tim Fernholz
