Originally posted by Roughneck
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Geithner's Debut: "Not Ready for Prime Time"
by Mike Whitney
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GEITHNER"S SPEECH
Geithner knew exactly what he had to say on Tuesday, but hemmed and hawed and avoided the central issues like the plague. He provided no new details on how the government planned to remove the illiquid assets that are fouling the banks' balance sheets nor did he explain how he would determine the value of these assets. It is shocking to realize that the financial crisis started 19 months ago (when two Bear Stearns hedge funds defaulted) and still, no one has any idea of what these assets are really worth. Price discovery is basic to any functioning market but, in this case, fear has carried the day. Everyone involved is terrified that trillions of dollars of assets will turn out to be worthless.
Geithner employed the same obfuscating techniques as Alan Greenspan. He tried to affect the look of a man who was deeply concerned while rattling off well-rehearsed statements that revealed absolutely nothing about his real intentions.
“I completely understand the desire for details and commitments," Geithner opined with heartfelt sincerity, "but we’re going to do this carefully so we don’t put ourselves in the position again....This is the beginning of the process of consultation." The there was this gem worthy of Maestro himself, "We are exploring a range of different structures" to deal with precisely that issue.
Right.
Most of the critics believe that Geithner is in over his head, but that's probably not the case. More likely, he has a plan but wants to keep the public in the dark. After all, there's no graceful way to tell people that they are about to get shafted for another $2 trillion to keep the larder on Wall Street full of Dom Perignon and chocolate truffles.
One thing Geithner will insist on is that the Treasury and the Fed remain the final arbiters of "who is solvent and who is not" as regards the big banks. That should be Sheila Bair's job. As the head of the FDIC, Bair is the regulator who should be in charge of checking capital reserves and closing underwater banks. But, apparently, Bair has been crowded out for political reasons. Geithner and his insider friends are calling the shots.
Geithner announced that Treasury would be putting together a new "public-private investment fund" to try to attract private capital to assist the government in purchasing some of the higher-rated assets the banks are trying to unload. The details are still sketchy, but it sounds a lot like Henry Paulson's Super SIV (structured investment vehicle) which provided a spot for the banks to dump their off-balance sheets garbage in one "government approved" SIV. Of course, the idea failed because, by then, investors were already skittish about buying complex, structured investments. Even so, Paulson's credibility took a real beating. He was seen as using his office to peddle dodgy bonds for his friends. Geithner won't make the same mistake. He'll take the high-road and entice the banks and hedge funds into buying the distressed MBS by providing government guarantees and subsidies similar to the perks in the Merrill Lynch-Lone Star transaction. In that deal, Merrill offloaded $31 billion in toxic CDOs for $.22 on the dollar and provided 75 percent of the financing. It was a sweetheart deal from the get-go and Geithner will undoubtedly duplicate it to get rid of the junk at no risk to the buyer. That will help fatten the bottom line of the teetering banking fraternity.
Geithner's financial rescue plan includes $500 billion to $1 trillion for the Fed's Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF). This will provide additional funds for institutions that finance pools of car loans, student loans, credit card debt etc. The securitization of consumer debt, which broke down 19 months ago when the crisis began, has resulted in an unprecedented slump that's put the world economy in a tailspin. Securitization has been Wall Street's golden goose. It's a reliable way to maximize leverage on smaller and smaller slices of capital. As borrowing increases, asset prices rise, making the system more and more unstable. When the bubble finally bursts; the tremors ripple through the real economy sending asset values crashing, equities markets plunging, and unemployment skyrocketing.
In his speech Geithner admitted that, "In our financial system, 40 percent of consumer lending has historically been available because people buy loans, put them together and sell them. Because this vital source of lending has frozen up, no plan will be successful unless it helps restart securitization markets for sound loans made to consumers and businesses -- large and small.”
40 percent! Think about that. Nearly half the credit pumped into the economy comes from securitization.
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http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.p...t=va&aid=12301
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